Two Roads Diverge
by hunterofartemis080
Summary: Opening the fob watch returned Adelaide to the universe, but she's not the same person as Caroline. While the new Time Lords struggle to solve the mysteries of a young ginger girl's life, they must also determine if their feelings for the other have remained the same, or if their paths have split. Third in the Crossed Stars. Time Lady - 11/OC
1. Two Time Lords

**Two Time Lords**

It was actually quite a bit more difficult than Adelaide expected to pilot a half-destroyed TARDIS with a newly regenerated Time Lord who didn't really want to talk to her. Especially because while she understood a bit about piloting a TARDIS this old, it wasn't enough with it in the current situation.

It had been a problem she'd faced as she and the Master had attempted to escape the Time War, though her TARDIS had been newer and nowhere near as damaged as this one was.

It also didn't help that the Doctor kept managing to be thrown out the doors. Adelaide didn't actually understand how that kept happening; it wasn't that hard to hold onto the console when the TARDIS jerked. She did keep managing to control the TARDIS long enough that he could pull himself back inside, and then he would just fall outside again.

She had been trying not to land it anywhere, just bring them into the vortex until the Doctor could help her get enough control, but that didn't seem to be working.

Adelaide was actually quite impressed that she able to landed the breaking TARDIS on her own…though it was more like crash-land.

She wished the Doctor had just chosen a more recent TARDIS when he'd run from Gallifrey, like she had. Those were so much easier to pilot.

When they crashed, the interior of the TARDIS tipped to the side, sending the Doctor sliding through the corridors while she held onto a bit of the console. She sighed as he rolled past her, and winced when she heard a splash.

Above her, the doors to the TARDIS opened and Adelaide began to attempt to pull herself up by the railing…only for a grappling hook thrown by the Doctor to nearly hit her in the head. She switched to that and popped her head out of the TARDIS, taking a few breaths of fresh air before looking down.

There was a little ginger girl staring at her, looking quite surprised. "Hello there," Adelaide grinned. "Sorry about this; going to be hell to clean up." She pulled herself up more, swinging her legs to hang outside the TARDIS. "We'll have to wait for the other one; I think he fell into the swimming pool, though I'm not quite sure how deep that is."

The Doctor reappeared next to her, looking completely soaked. "Could I have an apple?" he asked. "All I can think about. Apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving? That's new. Never had cravings before."

Adelaide frowned. "You've never had a craving?" she mumbled. She didn't actually know the adverse effects of putting off the regeneration as long as the Doctor had. Perhaps you did get extremely forgetful that you'd ever had things like cravings.

The Doctor pulled himself up so he was sitting on the edge of the TARDIS as well. "Whoa. Look at that!"

The girl frowned at him. "Are you okay?"

He shrugged. "Just had a fall. All the way down there," he leaned forward so that he nearly fell back in, "right to the library. Hell of a climb back up."

"You're soaking wet."

"I was in the swimming pool."

"You said you were in the library."

He just shrugged again. "So was the swimming pool."

The girl eyed them. "Are you policemen?"

The Doctor frowned. "Why? Did you call policemen?"

"Did you come about the crack in my wall?"

"What cra-ah-ah-argh-ha!" the Doctor fell off the TARDIS and Adelaide raised an eyebrow as she studied him.

The girl stepped back. "Are you all right, mister?"

He sat up. "No, I'm fine. It's okay. This is all perfectly norm…" he was cut off by a bit of extra regeneration energy floating from his mouth.

Adelaide highly doubted that this was normal. Regenerations were never nearly this violent. She leapt off of the TARDIS much more gracefully then the Doctor had, brushing a bit of soot from her pants. She really should have looked into changing; this sweater just wouldn't do. When she looked up again, the girl was staring at both of them with a frown. "Yes?" she prompted.

"Who are you?"

The Doctor grinned, holding up a glowing hand. "I don't know yet. I'm still cooking." He paused. "Does it scare you?"

The girl grimaced. "No, it just looks a bit weird."

"No, no, no. The crack in your wall. Does it scare you?"

"Yes."

The Doctor leapt to his feet at such a speed that Adelaide had to back up just to avoid getting hit in the face by one of his flailing limbs. "Well then, no time to lose. I'm the Doctor."

"Adelaide," she said, giving a little wave, though she was keeping watch on the Doctor to ensure he didn't actually fall over again.

"Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off." The Doctor took a few steps forward, seeming to have gotten the hang of everything…until he ran directly into a tree. Adelaide just sighed.

"Are you alright?"

"Early days. Steering's a bit off."

|C-S|

Somehow, miraculously, the Doctor managed to get to Amelia's kitchen without any really dangerous falls. That's not to say it didn't take him three times to climb the staircase because he kept claiming that a step had randomly appeared.

Adelaide found quite a kinship in the little girl, who watched the Doctor's antics with raised eyebrows and the occasional laugh.

Once they were inside, Adelaide left the Doctor standing in the middle of a doorway while the girl, who'd told her that her name was Amelia, found him an apple. "If you're a doctor, why does your box say Police?"

The Doctor grabbed the apple and took a bite out of it, though he only chewed it twice before spitting it, quite violently, back out. "That's disgusting. What is that?"

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. She had a feeling she'd be doing that a lot if she continued to spend time around the Doctor. His previous regeneration had been much calmer, much more contained. Except, of course, when he tried to manipulate the laws of time because he believed himself to be the last of his species. Then he'd gotten a bit out of hand. "That's an apple."

He frowned. "Apple's rubbish. I hate apples."

Amelia glanced at Adelaide. "You said you loved them."

"No, no, no. I like yogurt. Yogurt's my favorite, give me yogurt!" Amelia found him a container from the fridge and the Doctor practically chugged it, before giving it the same reaction as the apple. "I hate yogurt. It's just stuff with bits in."

"You said it was your favorite."

The Doctor shrugged, grinning. "New mouth. New rules. It's like eating after cleaning your teeth. Everything tastes wron-argh!" he jerked his arm, hitting himself in the forehead before straightening like nothing happened.

Amelia shook her head. "What is it? What's wrong with you?"

"Wrong with me? It's not my fault. Why can't you give me any decent food? You're Scottish." The girl's accent had made that obvious enough. "Fry something."

Amelia got to work on frying bacon while Adelaide hunted through the first floor of the home for a towel. She kept being worried the Doctor would just shake his head like a dog. Adelaide liked strange and odd and dangerous, but it was a bit too difficult to really enjoy the Doctor when he was very obviously attempting to ignore her completely.

She knew why. They were still strangers, and now wasn't really the time to get to know the other.

Especially now that the Doctor was also in the process of figuring out what type of person he actually was in this regeneration.

Adelaide had just thrown the towel against his face, getting the first actual look of that regeneration, when Amelia put the plate of bacon in front of him. And he spat it out again. "Bacon. That's bacon?" He glared. "Are you trying to poison me?"

Amelia made him a pan of beans…and the Doctor hated that too.

Adelaide hated cleaning, and she was beginning to get the feeling that they'd have to clean Amelia's entire house by the end of it if the Doctor kept just spitting food out without actually hitting the plate. She was normally a neat person, so cleaning was never a problem, but she always believed in respecting hosts.

It was what had kept her from getting killed quite a few more times than she had.

Next, Amelia tried bread and butter…only for the Doctor to throw it out the door and, by the sound of it, hitting a cat. "And stay out!" he called after it, returning to the kitchen and opening the fridge, Amelia coming beside him.

"We've got some carrots," she offered.

"Carrots? Are you insane? No." He paused, frowning. "Wait. Hang on. I know what I need. I need…I need…" he began to search through her freezer "fish fingers" now the fridge again "and custard." When he stepped back with a grin, Adelaide could only shrug.

They were aliens; it made sense that human food wouldn't actually taste that nice to them, especially right after a regeneration, when she could admit that taste buds were a bit messed up anyways.

As the Doctor worked to prepare his fish fingers and custard mixture, Adelaide grimaced at the mess he had made. She really should clean it…but she really didn't want to. Amelia saw her expression. "My aunt will clean it in the morning."

That only made Adelaide frown. Technically, it should be the Doctor cleaning, since he'd been the one to make the mess, but she had been the one to land the TARDIS in the girl's backyard, and this was the aunt's house.

Oh, goodness, it had been a long time since she'd had to deal with any of this, though that hadn't been by choice.

Finally, the Doctor sat at the table, munching on his fish fingers and custard, while Amelia sat across from him eating ice cream from the tub. She'd offered some to Adelaide but she'd politely refused, just taking a seat at the end of the table between the two of them.

Amelia nodded. "Funny."

The Doctor frowned. "Am I? Good. Funny's good. What's your name?"

"Amelia Pond."

He grinned. "Oh, that's a brilliant name. Amelia Pond. Like a name in a fairytale."

Adelaide frowned at the window across from her. "Are we in Scotland?"

Amelia shook her head. "No. We had to move to England. It's rubbish."

The Doctor nodded. "So what about your mum and dad, then? Are they upstairs? Thought we'd have woken them by now."

"I don't have a mum and dad." Both the Doctor and Adelaide started at the tone in Amelia's voice. She was rather casual about the concept of not having parents. "Just an aunt."

The Doctor shrugged. "I don't even have an aunt."

Amelia nodded. "You're lucky."

He looked towards Adelaide. "I know."

Adelaide didn't look at him. "Where is your aunt?"

"She's out."

Both Time Lords' eyes widened, but it was the Doctor spoke. "And she left you all alone?"

"I'm not scared!"

He shrugged. "Course you're not. You're not scared of anything. Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of a box, man eats fish custard, and look at you, just sitting there. So you know what I think?"

"What?"

"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall."

|C-S|

It had been a while since Adelaide had been able to sense oddities about time and space, but thankfully it seemed to be an ability that didn't require much practice, at least for a Time Lady. The moment she set eyes on the crack her stomach churned and given the Doctor's expression he was having a very similar reaction.

The Doctor ran his fingers down the crack. "You've had some cowboys in here. Not actual cowboys, though that can happen."

"I used to hate apples," Amelia said quietly, and Adelaide glanced back to see her holding an apple, "so my mum put faces on them." She walked over and gave it to the Doctor, the Time Lords smiling at the sight of the smiling face.

The Doctor nodded. "She sounds good, your mum. I'll keep it for later."

Adelaide turned back to the crack. "This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through." She held her hand up against it, feeling the tiniest bit of a breeze. "Where's the draft coming from?"

The Doctor ran his sonic along the crack. "Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey. You know what the crack is?"

"What?"

"It's a crack." He nearly pressed his face right against the crack, while Adelaide was being very careful not to actually touch the crack, since they didn't actually know what it was. "But I'll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, because the crack isn't in the wall."

Amelia frowned. "Where is it then?"

"Everywhere. In everything." This time, the Doctor looked towards Adelaide, acknowledging both of their responsibilities as Time Lords, which was honestly not something she'd done often. They may be strangers forced together by the Time War, but they were still Time Lords. "It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together right here in the wall of your bedroom. Sometimes…" he pressed his ear against the crack again "can you hear?"

Amelia nodded. "A voice. Yes."

The Doctor emptied a glass of water beside Amelia's bed and used it to listen. "Prisoner Zero?"

"'Prisoner Zero has escaped'. That's what I heard. What does it mean?"

He stepped back. "It means that on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner. And you know what that means?"

"What?"

Adelaide shrugged. "You need a better wall." Without speaking, she and the Doctor moved Amelia's desk away from the wall. "You're going to need to open it all the way."

He nodded. "The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut. Or…"

"What?"

"You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?"

Amelia sighed. "Yes."

"Everything's going to be fine." He took Amelia's hand and pointed his sonic at the crack.

The room was filled with a brilliant white light as the crack opened. "Prisoner Zero has escaped," a voice said. "Prisoner Zero has escaped."

The Doctor stepped forward slowly, keeping Amelia behind him. "Hello? Hello?" He took a few steps back when a large eyeball completely filled the space and Adelaide recognized it as an Atraxi.

"What's that?" Amelia asked.

The Atraxi shot a bolt of light directly at the Doctor's pocket and, as he doubled over, the crack closed. "There, you see? Told you it would close. Good as new."

"What's that thing? Was that Prisoner Zero?"

Adelaide shook her head. "That was Prisoner Zero's guard."

"Whatever it was…" the Doctor began, but Adelaide interrupted him.

"Atraxi." He turned to her. "That was an Atraxi. Galactic police force? No?" She sighed. "It sent you a message?" Given how much traveling he'd done, Adelaide had just expected he would recognize an Atraxi the moment he saw one. It appeared, however, that he did not, though, she supposed, the Doctor may never have stayed behind on a world he visited long enough for an Atraxi to visit. Not to say she had encountered them often…honestly, most of the time she was running from the Atraxi instead of actually interacting with them.

The Doctor nodded, pulling out his psychic paper. "Psychic paper," he said to Amelia, who was looking at it curiously. "Takes a lovely little message. 'Prisoner Zero has escaped'." He frowned. "But why tell us? Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless Prisoner Zero escaped through here." He shook his head, looking around the room. "But he couldn't have. We'd know." The Doctor ran from the room, stopping on the landing, turning in a circle. "It's difficult. Brand new me. Nothing works yet. But there's something I'm missing. In the corner…" he turned slower "of my eye."

They were interrupted by the Cloister Bell of the TARDIS. The Time Lords ran out of the house, the Doctor shouting as he did so, and Amelia followed.

"I've got to get back in there!" he shouted once they reached the garden. "The engines are phasing. It's going to burn!"

"But it's just a box!" Amelia called. "How can a box have engines?"

The Doctor leapt up onto the edge of the TARDIS. "It's not a box. It's a time machine."

"What, a real one?" Amelia's eyes widened. "You've got a real time machine?"

Adelaide pulled herself up beside the Doctor. It was from their combined effort that the TARDIS was like it was now; the Doctor's disastrous regeneration and her less than advisable piloting abilities. "Not for much longer. She needs to be stabilized."

The Doctor nodded. "Five minute hop into the future should do it."

"Can I come?"

He shook his head. "Not safe in here. Not yet." He paused. "Five minutes. Give us five minutes, we'll be right back."

Amelia frowned. "People always say that."

The Doctor fell off the TARDIS again, moving so that he could crouch in front of Amelia. "Am I people? Do I even look like people? Trust me. I'm the Doctor." He turned and bounced back up into the TARDIS, not even pausing on the edge before falling. "Geronimo!"

There was another splashing noise, and Adelaide was shocked that he'd managed it again. She fell into the closet when she jumped in, but it was nowhere near as far away as the library/swimming pool must have been, given how loud the splash was.

|C-S|

Both Time Lords managed to reach the console before anything bad actually happened to the TARDIS. The Doctor set them for five minutes in the future and then they ran out again, knowing that the TARDIS would need a bit of time to stabilize. He didn't stop as he ran towards the house, but Adelaide did.

They were supposed to jump five minutes…and it was morning.

"Amelia!" the Doctor called, running around the house. "Amelia, I worked out what it was! I know what I was missing! You've got to get out of there!" Adelaide hurried into the house after him, running in just as the Doctor went up the staircase. "Amelia? Amelia, are you all right? Are you there? Prisoner Zero is here! Prisoner Zero is here! Do you understand me? Prisoner Zero is…"

The Doctor went very suddenly silent, and there was a thud. Adelaide looked up the staircase with a frown. She climbed up slowly, only to see a ginger woman ducking into a room. She stayed hidden, waiting until the woman returned dressed in a police uniform and sporting a pair of handcuffs, which she used to secure the unconscious Doctor to the radiator.

The woman waited until the Doctor started to wake up before speaking, somehow not managing to see Adelaide standing where she was at all. "White male, mid-twenties, breaking and entering. Send me some backup. I've got him restrained." The Doctor moved quite violently. "Oi! You, sit still."

The Time Lord frowned. "Cricket bat. I'm getting…cricket back."

"You were breaking and entering."

He grimaced. "Well, that's much better. Brand new me. Whack on the head, just what I needed."

"Do you want to shut up now? I've got back up on the way."

"Hang on, no, wait…you're a policewoman."

She nodded. "And you're breaking and entering. You see how this works?"

"But what are you doing here? Where's Amelia?"

The woman froze. "Amelia Pond?"

"Yeah, Amelia. Little Scottish girl. Where is she? I promised her five minutes but the engines were phasing." He frowned. "I suppose I might have gone a bit far. Has something happened to her?"

"Amelia Pond hasn't lived here in a long time."

"How long?"

"Six months."

The Doctor's eyes widened and he shook his head. "No. No, no, no. I can't be six months late. I said five minutes. I promised. What happened to her? What happened to Amelia Pond?"

The woman turned around and Adelaide backed up down the staircase to stay out of her view. "Sarge, it's me again. Hurry it up. This guy knows something about Amelia Pond."

"I need to speak to whoever lives in this house right now!"

"I live here."

"But you're the police."

She nodded. "Yes, and this is where I live. Have you got a problem with that?"

The Doctor glanced about where Adelaide was standing, and she was quite glad his mind was functioning properly enough to notice that the Time Lady was standing just below the staircase. "How many rooms?"

The woman shook her head. "I'm sorry, what?"

"On this floor. How many rooms on this floor? Count them for me now."

"Why?"

"Because it will change your life."

"Five." The woman pointed to each of them as she numbered them. "One, two, three, four, five."

"Six."

The woman froze. "Six?"

"Look."

"Look where?"

"Exactly where you don't want to look. Where you never want to look. The corner of your eye. Look behind you."

Slowly, the woman turned, finally seeing the door, which Adelaide had just been seeing as she stood on the staircase. "That's…that is not possible. How's that possible?"

"There's a perception filter all-round the door. Sensed it the last time I was here. Should've seen it."

The woman moved towards the door. "But that's a whole room. That's a whole room I've never even noticed."

"The filter stops you noticing. Something came a while ago to hide. It's still hiding, and you need to uncuff me now!"

"I don't have the key," the woman mumbled, moving even closer to the door. "I lost it."

"How can you have lost it?" the Doctor paused, realizing what she was doing. "Stay away from that door! Do not touch that door!" the woman ignored him. "Listen to me, do not open that…" and the woman opened the door. The Doctor sighed. "Why does no-one ever listen to me? Do I have a face that nobody listens to?" he paused. "Again." As he spoke, Adelaide finished climbing the staircase, standing in the doorway. "My screwdriver, where is it? Silver thing, blue at the end. Where did it go?"

"There's nothing here," Amelia called.

"Whatever's there stopped you seeing the room. What makes you think you could see it? Now please, just get out!"

"Silver, blue at the end?"

The Doctor nodded. "My screwdriver, yeah."

"It's here."

"Must have rolled under the door."

"Yeah. Must have." The woman paused. "And then it must have jumped up on the table."

The Doctor and Adelaide met eyes. "Get out of there!" he shouted, pulling on the handcuff. "Get out of there! Get out! Get out of there!" Adelaide tried to look further into the room, but she didn't want to risk getting too close. "What is it? What are you doing?"

"There's nothing here, but…"

"Corner of your eye," the Doctor breathed.

She gasped quietly. "What is it?"

"Don't try to see it. If it knows you've seen it, it will kill you. Don't look at it. Do not look…" the woman screamed. "Get out!"

The woman ran out of the room, stopping when she nearly ran directly into Adelaide. "Two…"

She just pointed at the Doctor. "Screwdriver."

The woman handed it to him and he locked the door before attempting to sonic his handcuffs, though given the fact it wasn't immediately successful Adelaide believed it had broken. "Come on…what's the bad alien done to you?"

"Will that door hold it?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah, yeah, of course. It's an interdimensional multiform from outer space. They're all terrified of wood!"

A bright light began to flash behind the door. "What's that? What's it doing?"

The Doctor glanced up, attempting to clean the sonic on his trousers. "I don't know. Getting dressed? Run. Just go. Your back-up's coming. We'll be fine.

"There is no back-up."

He frowned. "I heard you on the radio. You called for back-up."

"Pretend radio?" Adelaide offered, and the woman nodded.

"You're a policewoman!"

"I'm a kiss-o-gram!" the woman pulled off her hat, freeing her ginger hair, just as the door burst open. A man and a large dog stepped out, glaring at the three of them. "But it's just…"

"No, it isn't," the Doctor prompted. "Look at the faces."

The dog began to growl, but it was the man who moved. "What? I'm sorry, but what?"

"One creature disguised as two," Adelaide said, pulling the woman back closer to the Doctor. "Must have done it quickly, the voices are a bit mixed." She frowned. "It would need a psychic link with a dormant mind, a live feed…"

The man growled and opened his mouth to reveal large pointed teeth. "Stay, boy!" the Doctor said. "The three of us, we're safe. Want to know why? She sent for back-up."

The woman sighed. "I didn't send for back-up!"

The Doctor grimaced. "I know. That was a clever lie to save our lives. Okay, yeah, no back-up. And that's why we're safe. Alone, we're not a threat to you. If we had back-up, you'd have to kill us."

"Attention, Prisoner Zero," the Atraxi's voice came from outside. "The human residence is surrounded. Attention Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded."

"What's that?" the woman asked.

"Well, that would be back-up. Okay, one more time. We do have back-up and that's definitely why we're safe."

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

He shrugged. "Well, safe apart from, you know, incineration."

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

The Doctor hit the sonic against the ground until it actually make a noise again, letting him finally free himself from the handcuffs. "Run!"

Adelaide led the way back out of the house, the Doctor sonicing the lock closed behind them. "Kiss-o-gram?" he asked.

"Yes, a kiss-o-gram. Work through it."

"Why'd you pretend to be a policewoman?"

"You broke into my house! It was this or a French maid. What's going on? Tell me. Tell me!"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "An alien convict is hiding in your spare room disguised as a man and a dog, and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house. Any questions?"

"Yes."

"Me too." He spun to the TARDIS, attempting to open it, but the key didn't seem to be working. "No, no, no, no! Don't do that, not now!" He sighed. "It's still rebuilding. Not letting us in."

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

The woman sighed, gesturing for them to follow. "Come on."

However, the Doctor paused. "No, wait, hang on. Wait, wait, wait, wait. The shed." He ran to it. "We destroyed that shed last time we were here. Smashed it to pieces."

The woman shrugged. "So there's a new one. Let's go."

Adelaide shook her head. "That's ten years old, at least."

That prompted the Doctor to actually lick the shed. "Twelve years." They both turned to the woman. "We're not six months late, we're twelve years late."

"He's coming."

"You said six months. Why did you say six months?"

"We've got to go."

"This matters. This is important! Why did you say six months?"

"Why did you say five minutes!" the Time Lords backed up, eyes wide. This was Amelia Pond.

"What?"

Amelia grabbed his arm. "Come on."

"What?"

"Come on!" she managed to make the Doctor move.

"What?"

They ran past the door just as the man and the dog opened the door. "Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

Eventually, Amelia let go of the Doctor once it was clear he'd gotten over his shock enough to move on his own, though he was still staring at Amelia with wide eyes. "You're Amelia."

"And you're late."

"Amelia Pond. You're the little girl."

She nodded. "I'm Amelia and you're late."

"What happened?"

"Twelve years."

"You hit me with a cricket bat!"

"Twelve years."

"A cricket bat."

Amelia nodded. "Twelve years and four psychiatrists."

"Four?"

Amelia looked away from them. "I kept biting them."

Adelaide frowned. "Why?"

"They said you weren't real."

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated." The Time Lords turned when it appeared that the Atraxi was speaking through a nearby ice cream van.

Amelia sighed as they walked up to the van. "No, no, no, come on. What? We're being staked out by an ice-cream van."

"What's that?" the Doctor asked the man. "Why are you playing that?"

"It's supposed to be Clair de Lune."

The Doctor picked up the radio. "Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated. Repeat. Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated." He lowered the radio, both of them turning to finally realize that literally anything with a speaker was broadcasting the Atraxi's message.

"Doctor, what's happening?"

It took the Doctor a few more seconds before turning and running off down the road again, Amelia and Adelaide following. He leapt over the hedge fence of a home before striding in, making Adelaide sigh. Really, manners.

She may enjoy the running around and investigating, but she still understood the importance of proper manners.

They entered the room as the Doctor was halfway through a sentence. "…also crimes." He ducked behind the old woman's television, which was showing the image of an Atraxi. "Let's have a look."

"I was just about to phone. It's on every channel." The woman turned to see Amelia. "Oh, hello, Amy dear. Are you a policewoman now?"

Amelia shrugged. "Well, sometimes."

"I thought you were a nurse."

"I can be a nurse."

"Or actually a nun?"

"I dabble."

The woman eyed her, but she turned to look at the Doctor and Adelaide again. "Amy, who are your friends?"

The Doctor paused. "Who's Amy? You were Amelia."

"Yeah? Now I'm Amy."

He frowned. "Amelia Pond. That was a great name."

Amy shrugged. "Bit fairy tale."

The woman frowned at the Doctor and Adelaide. "I know you, don't I? I've seen you somewhere before."

The Doctor stepped up to her. "Not me. Brand new face." He stretched his mouth as wide as it could possibly go. "First time on." He frowned at Amy again. "And what sort of job's a kissogram?"

"I go to parties and I kiss people. With outfits. It's a laugh!"

"You were a little girl five minutes ago."

Amy sighed. "You're worse than my aunt."

He shrugged. "I'm the Doctor. I'm worse than everybody's aunt." He grimaced. "And that is not how I'm introducing myself." He soniced the radio and the Atraxi were transmitting the message in every language. "Okay, so it's everywhere, in every language. They're broadcasting to the whole world." He ran out to the window and looked up at the sky.

"What's up there? What are you looking for?"

The Doctor glanced at Adelaide. "Okay. Planet this size, two poles, your basic molten core?" she nodded, knowing they were each working out the specifics. "They're going to need a forty percent fission blast. But they'll have to power up first, won't they? So assuming a medium sized starship…that's twenty minutes." He nodded. "What do you think, twenty minutes? Yeah, twenty minutes. We've got twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes to what?"

"Are you the Doctor and Addy?" the Time Lords turned to see a man had entered the room.

The woman nodded, smiling. "They are, aren't they? He's the Doctor and she's Addy! The Raggedy Doctor! All those cartoons you did when you were little. The Raggedy Doctor! It's them."

"Shut up," Amy mumbled, but the Time Lords were not quieted.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Cartoons?"

"Gran, it's them, isn't it? It's really them!"

"Jeff, shut up. Twenty minutes to what?"

"The human residence. They're not talking about your house, they're talking about the planet."

Adelaide pointed up. "There's a spaceship up there and it's going to incinerate the planet."

The Doctor nodded. "Twenty minutes to the end of the world." He ran out of the home again, and Adelaide paused long enough to say sorry to the woman before running out of the home.

 **A/N: The next season has begun! The Time Lords are certainly in for an exciting time together.**

 **As a refresher, I picture Adelaide to look like Felicity Jones.**


	2. One TARDIS

**One TARDIS**

She, and Amy, caught up to the Doctor just as he reached the village green. "What is this place? Where am I?"

"Leadworth."

He frowned. "Where's the rest of it?"

"This is it."

"Is there an airport?"

"No."

"A nuclear power station?"

"No."

"Even a little one?"

"No."

"Nearest city?"

"Gloucester. Half an hour by car."

"We don't have half an hour. Do we have a car?"

"No."

The Doctor threw his hands in the air, exasperated. "Well, that's good. Fantastic, that is. Twenty minutes to save the world and I've got a post office. And it's shut." He pointed at something in front of them and ran towards it. "What is that?"

"It's a duck pond."

"Why aren't there any ducks?"

Amy shrugged. "I don't know. There's never any ducks."

Adelaide frowned. "Then how do you know it's a duck pond?"

"It just is! Is it important, the duck pond?"

"I don't know. Why should I know?" the Doctor jerked suddenly, clutching his chest. "This is too soon. I'm not ready, I'm not done yet." As he spoke, the sky went dark. The three looked up and it looked like the clouds just were moving in, though the Time Lords could guess it was anything but.

"What's happening?" Amy asked them. "Why's it going dark?" the clouds drifted away to reveal the sun, but it very clearly didn't look normal. "What's wrong with the sun?"

"Nothing. You're looking at it through a forcefield."

Adelaide nodded, instinctively reaching out to help the Doctor stand. "They've sealed off your upper atmosphere."

"Now they're getting ready to boil the planet." The Doctor turned to look at the gathered populous of the town…who had all pulled out their phones. "Oh, and here they come. The human race. The end comes, as it was always going to, down a video phone."

Amy shook her head. "This isn't real, is it? This is some kind of big wind up."

The Doctor frowned at her. "Why would I wind you up?"

"You told me who had a time machine."

"And you believed me."

"Then I grew up."

"Oh, you never want to do that." The Doctor held up a hand, pausing. "No. Hang on. Shut up. Wait. I missed it." He hit himself in the head. "I saw it and I missed it." And again. "What did I see? I saw…what did I see? I saw…I saw…I saw…" he focused at a point in the grass, focusing, while Adelaide looked out towards the people, spotting the man just as the Doctor looked up towards him. "Twenty minutes." The Doctor turned back to Amy. "I can do it. Twenty minutes, the planet burns. Run to your loved ones and say goodbye, or stay and help me."

Amy shook her head. "No."

"I'm sorry?"

"No!" Amy grabbed his tie and pulled him, despite the Doctor's loud protests, towards a car parked just behind him and slammed the door closed on his tie. She took the keys from the driver and locked it, trapping the Doctor. Adelaide raised an eyebrow before walking over.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Who are you?" Amy looked between them.

"You know who we are."

She shook her head. "No, really. Who are you?"

"Look at the sky. End of the world, twenty minutes."

Amy shrugged. "Well, better talk quickly, then."

"Amy," the driver said, clearly confused, "I am going to need my car back."

She didn't look at him. "Yes, in a bit. Now go and have coffee."

"Right." The man nodded, walking away. "Yes."

The Doctor pulled out the apple little Amelia had given him, tossing it to her. "Catch." Amy turned it slowly. "I'm the Doctor. That's Adelaide. We're time travelers. Everything I told you twelve years ago is true. We're real. What's happening in the sky is real, and if you don't let me go right now, everything you've ever known is over."

Amy shook her head. "I don't believe you."

"Just twenty minutes. Just believe me for twenty minutes. Look at it." He nodded at the apple. "Fresh as the day you gave it to me. And you know it's the same one. Amy, believe for twenty minutes."

Amy stared at him carefully before unlocking the car door. "What do we do?"

"Stop that nurse." The Doctor ran past both of them, though Adelaide matched his pace perfectly. They leapt over a fence and the Doctor grabbed the nurse's phone as they ran past. "The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?"

The man looked desperately towards Amy. "Amy?"

She nodded at him. "Hi." The Time Lords raised their eyebrows. "Oh, this is Rory, he's a friend."

"Boyfriend."

"Kind of boyfriend."

Rory frowned. "Amy!"

"Man and a dog," the Doctor interrupted. "Why?"

Rory, however, widened his eyes. "Oh my God. It's him…and her!"

Amy sighed. "Just answer his question, please."

"It's them, though. The Doctor, the Raggedy Doctor, and Addy!"

"Yeah, they came back."

"But they were a story. They were a game."

"Man and dog," the Doctor grabbed Rory's shirt, forcing him to focus. "Why? Tell me now."

"Sorry! Because he can't be there. Because he's…"

They finished his sentence simultaneously. "In a hospital, in a coma."

Adelaide nodded. "Multiform needs a live feed with a living but dormant mind."

The Doctor pointed at her before they heard a dog barking, making them all turn to see it was Prisoner Zero again. He seemed to have fixed the mouths a bit, but now both the man and the dog were barking. "Prisoner Zero."

"What?" Rory gasped. "There's a Prisoner Zero too?"

"Yes."

One of the Atraxi descended and hovered next to a church, scanning the area. "See, that ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology," the Doctor said, pulling out his sonic. "And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver." He held it over his head, making the streetlights explode, car alarms go off and various vehicles move on their own. "I think someone's going to notice, don't you?" he pointed the sonic at the telephone box, but right after that exploded the sonic did the same in his hand. "No, no! No, don't do that!"

"Look, it's going," Rory called, pointing after the ship.

"No, come back! He's here! Come back! He's here! Prisoner Zero is here! Come back, he's here! Prisoner Zero is…" the multiform just smirked before glowing orange and melting down the drain.

"Doctor!" Amy said, as though the Doctor and Adelaide hadn't seen it themselves. "The drain. It just sort of melted and went down the drain."

The Doctor sighed. "Well, of course it did."

"What do we do now?"

"It's hiding in human form. We need to drive it into the open." The Doctor frantically ran his hands through his hair. "No TARDIS, no screwdriver, seventeen minutes." He began to pace around all of them. "Come on, think. Think!"

Amy turned in a circle to follow the Doctor. "So that thing, that hid in my house for twelve years?"

He shrugged. "Multiforms can live for millennia. Twelve years is a pit-stop."

"So how come you show up again on the same day that lot do? The same minute!"

"Atraxi," Adelaide corrected quietly. "They were looking for him but followed us."

The Doctor nodded. "They saw us through the crack, got a fix, they're only late because we are."

Rory shook his head. "What're they on about?"

"Nurse-boy," the Doctor stopped in front of Rory, "give me your phone."

"How can they be real? They were never real!"

"Phone. Now. Give me."

Rory handed him the phone, though he was looking at Amy. "It was just a game. We were kids. You made me dress up as him!"

The Doctor held up the phone, showing a few images of people. "These photos, they're all coma patients."

"Yeah"

"No, they're all the multiform. Eight comas, eight disguises for Prisoner Zero."

"He had a dog, though. There's a dog in a coma?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, the coma patient dreams he's walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog." He spun again, facing Amy. "Laptop! Your friend, what was his name? Not him, the good-looking one."

Rory sighed. "Thanks."

"Jeff."

"Oh, thanks."

"He had a laptop in his bag. A laptop. Big bag, big laptop! I need Jeff's laptop." The Doctor pointed at Amy and Rory. "You two, get to the hospital. Get everyone out of that ward. Clear the whole floor. Phone me when you're done." He paused, glancing at Adelaide. "Do you still have your phone?" Adelaide held it up and the Doctor looked a bit surprised, but he nodded before running back towards the house.

|C-S|

The Doctor immediately ran into Jeff's room, where the man was sitting with the laptop on his lap. "Hello! Laptop. Give me." He tried to grab the laptop, but Jeff attempted to keep the computer away from him.

"No, no, no, no, wait."

"It's fine. Give it here."

"Hang on!"

The Doctor managed to grab the laptop and sit on the bed, grimacing slightly when he saw the screen. "Blimey. Get a girlfriend, Jeff."

Jeff's grandmother entered the room and Jeff looked rather embarrassed. "Gran."

"What are you doing?" she asked the Time Lords, Adelaide moving to sit next to the Doctor on the bed.

"The sun's gone wibbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's going to be a big old video conference call." The Doctor worked on typing. "All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need? Me." The Doctor glanced at Adelaide, and she didn't really fault him for forgetting that he now had another Time Lady who was willing to help. "Us. I mean us." He glanced back on the computer, pulling up the video call. "Ah, and here they all are. All the big boys. NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Centre, Patrick Moore."

Jeff's Gran nodded. "I like Patrick Moore."

"I'll get you his number. But watch him, he's a devil."

Jeff frowned. "You can't just hack in on a call like that."

"Can't I?" six faces appeared on the screen and the Doctor flashed his psychic paper.

"Who are you?" one of the men asked. "This is a secure call, what are you doing here?"

The Doctor gave a little wave. "Hello. Yeah, I know you should switch us off, but before you do, watch this." He began to type again.

"It's here too," the man said, their computers showing another dialogue box, "I'm getting it."

"Fermat's Theorem, the proof," the Doctor explained as he worked. "And I mean the real one. Never been seen before. Poor old Fermat, got killed in a duel before he could write it down. My fault." He shrugged. "I slept in."

Adelaide nodded. "Why electrons have mass?" she offered, and the Doctor worked to put that one in now.

"And a personal favorite of mine, faster than light travel with two diagrams and a joke." The Doctor grinned. "Look at your screens. Whoever we are, we're geniuses. Look at the sun. You need all the help you can get. Fellas, pay attention."

The Doctor pulled out Rory's phone, passing the laptop to Adelaide's lap. "Sir," she was fairly certain the NASA representative was the one who asked, "what are you doing?"

"I'm writing a computer virus. Very clever, super fast, and a tiny bit alive, but don't let on. And why am I writing it on a phone? Never mind, you'll find out." He looked up, finishing. "Okay, I'm sending this to all your computers. Get everyone who works for you sending this everywhere. Email, text, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, radar dish, whatever you've got. Any questions?"

"Who was your lady friend?" Patrick Moore asked, now able to see Jeff's Gran given the angle Adelaide was holding the computer.

The Doctor frowned. "Patrick, behave."

"What does this virus do?"

Adelaide pulled out her phone since the Doctor had sent it to her as well. "It's a reset command," she determined, and the Doctor nodded along as she spoke. "Resets anything with a counter at exactly the same time."

"But we could be lying, so why should you trust us?" The Doctor nodded back towards Jeff and Adelaide angled the computer a bit more. "I'll let my best man explain." There was silence. "Jeff, you're my best man."

"You what?"

Adelaide lowered the computer so that their conversation could be a bit secret from the committee he'd hacked into. "Listen to me," the Doctor said to Jeff. "In ten minutes, you're going to be a legend. In ten minutes, everyone on that screen is going to be offering you any job you want. But first, you have to be magnificent. You have to make them trust you and get them working. This is it, Jeff, right here, right now. This is when you fly. Today's the day you save the world."

Jeff frowned. "Why me?"

Adelaide shrugged. "It's your bedroom." She passed the computer to Jeff. "Now, go."

The Doctor leapt up and the Time Lords ran from the room, only for him to run back or a second. "Oh, and delete your internet history."

|C-S|

The Time Lords had to find some sort of car to get to the hospital…and determined that they couldn't agree on what type of car to steal. The Doctor wanted to hotwire a car, while Adelaide just wanted to take something like a bus, or even just a car that someone was just stepping out of so that they didn't have to waste time hotwiring it. They spent a good minute arguing about what they should do, the longest conversation he and Adelaide had actually had in their new lives.

Eventually, they both turned in unison as they spotted something red. "Firetruck?" Adelaide asked.

"Firetruck."

There was another argument about who would drive, Adelaide using the argument that she had been a human for a few years, but then the Doctor reminded her that she hadn't actually driven a car in that entire time; Adelaide had forgotten she'd told him that once.

Thus, the Doctor was the one driving and Adelaide holding the phones, and the one answering Rory's when Amy called. "Doctor?"

"Addy."

"We're at the hospital, but we can't get through."

"Look in the mirror."

Amy paused. "Look in the mirror…ha ha! Uniform. Are you on your way? You're going to need a car."

"Don't worry. We managed to agree on a vehicle to commandeer." Amy hung up, only to call again a few seconds later. "Are you in?"

"Yep. But so's Prisoner Zero."

Adelaide glanced at the Doctor. "You need to get out of there." She could hear someone speaking, but she couldn't make out who they were or what they were saying. "Amy? What's happening?" She could hear someone running. "Amy, talk to me!"

"We're in the coma ward," Amy finally said, "but it's here. It's getting in."

Adelaide looked out at the hospital they were just pulling up to. "Which window are you?"

"What, sorry?"

"Which window?"

"First floor, on the left, fourth from the end."

Adelaide hung up the phone, repeating the message to the Doctor, who quickly began to work on getting the ladder ready as they stopped. She managed to send Amy a text just before the ladder crashed through the window and the Doctor leapt into the room.

"Right!" he said, as Adelaide climbed the ladder. "Hello. Am I late?" He glanced at the clock just as Adelaide entered. "No, three minutes to go. So still time."

Prisoner Zero, standing in the doorway in the form of a woman with two young girls, sneered at them. "Time for what, Time Lords?"

"Take the disguise off. They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies."

"The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire."

The Doctor shook his head. "Okay. You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again. Just leave."

"I did not open the crack."

He shrugged. "Somebody did."

"The cracks in the skin of the universe, don't you know where they came from?" The woman's eyes widened, picking up on the fact that the Time Lords were quite clueless. "The Time Lords in the TARDIS don't know. Don't know. Don't know!" the woman had switched to one of the children's voices, but she returned to the original. "The universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall."

Adelaide sighed. "Another prophecy?" they had caused enough trouble in the Doctor's last regeneration, so she'd been quite hoping to get away from them in this one.

The Doctor, however, grinned. "And we're off! Look at that. Look at that!" the clock behind Prisoner Zero had switched to just zeros, just like every other counter in the entire world. "Yeah, I know, just a clock. Whatever. But do you know what's happening right now? In one little bedroom, my team are working. Jeff and the world. And do you know what they're doing? They're spreading the word all over the world, quantum fast. The word is out. And do you know what the word is? The word…is Zero."

Adelaide nodded. "Now, if I were an Atraxi up in a battleship monitoring all Earth communications, I'd likely notice. And I'd also likely be able to track a simple computer virus to its source in...say, under a minute?"

"The source, by the way, is right here." The Doctor held up Rory's phone as a bright light flashed through the window. "Oh! And I think they just found us!"

"The Atraxi are limited. While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me."

"Yeah, but this is the good bit." Adelaide had to admit, the Doctor looked quite pleased with himself. "I mean, this is my favorite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of? Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here." He pressed a button. Ooo, and being uploaded about now. And the final score is, no TARDIS, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare." He spread his arms wide. "Who da man?" Everyone stared at him with raised eyebrows. "Oh, I'm never saying that again. Fine."

Prisoner Zero, however, just sneered. "Then I shall take a new form."

The Doctor shook his head. "Oh, stop it. You know you can't. It takes months to form that kind of psychic link."

"And I've had years." Prisoner Zero turned orange as Amy collapsed behind them.

The Doctor ran to her side, Adelaide glancing outside to ensure the Atraxi ship was still outside. "No! Amy? You've got to hold on. Amy? Don't sleep! You've got to stay awake, please."

Adelaide glanced back at Prisoner Zero. "Doctor."

He frowned at the figure the multiform had transformed into…himself. "Well, that's rubbish. Who's that supposed to be?"

"That's you," Adelaide said.

"Me?" the Doctor looked horrified by the concept, and Adelaide remembered the bit of vain streak from his last regeneration. "Is that what I look like?"

Rory frowned at him. "You don't know?"

"Busy day." The Doctor stood. "Why me, though? You're linked with her. Why are you copying me?"

"I'm not." A young Amelia Pond stepped out from behind the Doctor's back. "Poor Amy Pond. Such a child inside. Dreaming of the magic Doctor she knows will return to save her. What a disappointment you've been."

"No…she's dreaming about me because she can hear me." The Doctor fell to Amy's side again. "Amy, don't just hear me, listen. Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn't see. Remember you went inside. I tried to stop you, but you did. You went in the room. You went inside. Amy, dream about what you saw."

"No!" Zero shouted. "No! No!" Prisoner Zero faded to orange again, turning into the multiform that Amy had seen in her house.

Adelaide laughed. "Very nice; that's a perfect impersonation of yourself."

"Prisoner Zero is located," the Atraxi outside the window announced. "Prisoner Zero is retrained."

"Silence, Time Lords," Prisoner Zero said, turning back to face them. "Silence will fall." It vanished in a small gust of wind as the Atraxi ship left.

"The sun," Rory said, trying to lean over and look out the window without leaving Amy. "It's back to normal, right? That's…that's good, yeah? That means it's over." He turned back to Amy when she started to wake up again. "Amy. Are you okay? Are you with us?"

Amy frowned. "What happened?"

"He did it. The Doctor did it."

The Doctor, however, shook his head. "No, I didn't." He pulled out Rory's phone, typing again.

"What are you doing?"

"Tracking the signal back. Sorry in advance."

"About what?"

"The bill."

The Doctor managed to get connected. "Oi, I didn't say you could go! Article fifty-seven of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established level five planet, and you were going to burn it? What? Did you think no-one was watching? You lot, back here, now." He hung up the phone, glancing at Adelaide, who had to admit that she was a bit impressed. Despite all of her traveling, she'd never actually bothered to learn the legal bits. She'd just relied on good manners to get people to do what she wanted, or at least as good manners as she could manage. "Okay, now I've done it." The Doctor turned and ran out of the room, Adelaide following, and Amy and Rory managing to do the same.

"Where are you going?" Amy called.

"The roof. No, hang on." He veered off into a locker room, grabbing random pieces of clothing before tossing them away. Adelaide actually began to do the same, at least with shirts; she'd had enough of the ripped green sweater that Caroline had chosen.

Amy frowned. "What's in there?"

"I'm saving the world; I need a decent shirt! To hell with the raggedy. Time to put on a show!"

"You just summoned aliens back to Earth," Rory said, very clearly not believing it. "Actual aliens, deadly aliens, aliens of death, and…now you're taking your clothes off."

The Doctor was indeed doing just that, stripping in the corner of the room. Adelaide was much quicker about it, swapping her sweater for a mint green dress shirt; just because she hadn't liked the sweater didn't mean she didn't like the color. "Turn your back if it embarrasses you."

Rory shook his head. "Are you stealing clothes now? Those clothes belong to people, you know."

"Which is why I'm leaving the sweater," Adelaide said. Really, her sweater wasn't that badly damaged, it just didn't feel like her anymore. "I can't speak for the Doctor however." The man seemed intent switching out his entire outfit, which was more understandable; he had regenerated, his clothing was practically destroyed.

Rory glanced at Amy as he turned around. "Are you not going to turn your back?"

Amy stayed put. "No."

"Manners!" Adelaide called, which she did notice made the Doctor chuckle.

|C-S|

The Doctor hadn't actually decided on a tie by the time they arrived on the roof. He had several around his neck and didn't really look the part of an Earth negotiator, which he would have to be, since though he had asked if Adelaide would do it, she made it quite clear that one, he was the one who had been protecting the earth for centuries and, two, the Atraxi probably would arrest her for quite a few things if they actually realized who she was; thankfully, they hadn't seen this current face yet.

He was a bit surprised that her interactions with the Atraxi had ever gotten that far, since Adelaide was almost certain he thought her to be a goody-two-shoes manners respecting Time Lady.

She did respect manners, true, but there had been quite a few things over time that had gotten quite a few alien races upset with her.

After all, while most of the time being polite meant people would look the other way if you broke some simple laws - forgiveness instead of permission, after all - sometimes that didn't end up working out for her.

"So this was a good idea, was it?" Amy asked the Doctor. "They were leaving."

"Leaving is good. Never coming back is better." He strode forward to face the Atraxi, leaving Adelaide to keep the humans from getting too close. "Come on, then! The Doctor will see you now!"

The Atraxi dropped out of its ship to scan the Doctor. "You are not of this world."

"No, but I've put a lot of work into it." He looked down at the collection of ties he had draped around his neck. "Oh, hmm, I don't know." He held one up. "What do you think?"

"Is this world important?"

The Doctor tossed the tie behind him and Rory actually caught it. "Important? What's that mean, important? Six billion people live here. Is that important? Here's a better question. Is this world a threat to the Atraxi? Well, come on. You're monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a threat?"

The Atraxi displayed a hologram of the world, flicking through various images of Earth's history. "No."

"Are the peoples of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?"

Again, more images. "No."

"Okay. One more. Just one." The Doctor threw another tie over his shoulder. "Is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to come here. Oh, there have been so many." The Atraxi displayed images of various creatures that had attempted to attack the Earth. Adelaide recognized some from her time as Caroline, some from her time as a Time Lady, and some from both. "And what you've got to ask is, what happened to them?" The Atraxi flickered through images of the past regenerations of the Doctor, something Adelaide had seen before with Benjamin Lake. The Doctor, meanwhile, picked a jacket and bow tie. Once it reached his last regeneration, the one Adelaide knew best, he stepped through. "Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically…run."

The Atraxi shot back into the ship and took off faster than Adelaide had ever seen it do before.

Amy laughed as Adelaide stepped forward to the Doctor's side, seeing him flinch from a sharp pain in his pocket. "Is that it? Is that them gone for good? Who were they?"

But when Amy looked back down towards the Time Lords again, they were gone.

|C-S|

The TARDIS was clearly repaired when the Time Lords ran up to it. It did look a bit different then Adelaide remembered, but mostly it had stayed the same. "Okay," the Doctor breathed, touching the door carefully, "what have you got for me this time?" he unlocked the door and ran inside, cheering. "Look at you. Oh, you sexy thing! Look at you!"

He ran up to the console, Adelaide taking a moment to wave at Amy and Rory, who had just arrived, before following him.

|C-S|

The Doctor took the TARDIS on a short trip before returning to Amy's, managing to land exactly where they had just come from. The Time Lords stepped outside and frowned that time, both of them realizing that the time had changed again, though this time it was a bit more expected. The Doctor hadn't promised five minutes, after all.

Amy, dressed in a nightgown, ran out to them almost instantly. "Sorry about running off earlier," the Doctor said, leaning against the TARDIS. "Brand new TARDIS. Bit exciting. Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in. She's ready for the big stuff now."

Amy looked between them in shock. "It's you. You came back."

"Course I came back." The Doctor grinned. "I always come back. Something wrong with that?"

Amy sighed. "And you kept the clothes."

The Doctor tweaked his bow tie. "Well, I just saved the world. The whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge. Yeah, shoot me. I kept the clothes."

She laughed. "Including the bow tie tie."

"Yeah, it's cool. bow ties are cool."

"Are you from another planet?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay."

"So what do you think?"

"Of what?"

The Doctor nodded back towards the TARDIS. "Other planets. Want to check some out?"

"What does that mean?"

"It means…" the Doctor glanced at Adelaide, but the Time Lady stayed silent. "Well, it means come with me."

"Where?"

He shrugged. "Wherever you like."

"All that stuff that happened. The hospital, the spaceships, Prisoner Zero."

He waved a hand. "Oh, don't worry, that's just the beginning. There's loads more."

Amy nodded. "Yeah, but those things, those amazing things, all that stuff…that was two years ago."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh! Oops."

"Yeah."

"So that's…"

"Fourteen years," Adelaide chuckled. Even she wouldn't have been so bad at piloting a type 40 TARDIS to continually end up arriving much later than she had planned on and the Doctor had had centuries of practice.

The Doctor nodded. "Fourteen years since fish custard. Amy Pond, the girl who waited…you've waited long enough."

Amy eyed the TARDIS. "When I was a kid, you said there was a swimming pool and a library, and the swimming pool was in the library."

He shrugged. "Yeah. Not sure where it's got to now. It'll turn up." He grinned. "So, coming?"

However, Amy shook her head. "No."

"You wanted to come fourteen years ago."

Amy shrugged. "I grew up."

"Don't worry. I'll soon fix that."

Adelaide pushed the TARDIS door open, stepping back to let the Doctor and Amy walk in. It was the Doctor's TARDIS, and Adelaide would be as much as a guest as Amy would be. She and the Doctor hadn't even discussed if she'd be able to stay in the TARDIS, there hadn't been a chance yet.

Amy looked around with wide eyes, turning in a small circle. The Doctor walked past her to the console. "Well? Anything you want to say? Any passing remarks? I've heard them all."

"I'm in my nightie!"

Both Time Lords chuckled at her. "Oh, don't worry. Plenty of clothes in the wardrobe. And possibly a swimming pool." The Doctor spread his arms wide. "So, all of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will…where do you want to start?"

Amy frowned at him. "You are so sure that I'm coming."

"Yeah, I am."

"Why?"

"You're a Scottish girl in the English village," Adelaide said, making Amy spin to face her. "We both" the Doctor nodded behind Amy's back, confirming what Adelaide had thought, though he was looking at her with shock "know how that feels."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Oh, do you?"

"All this time, and you've still got that accent."

The Doctor smirked. "Yeah, you're coming."

"Can you get me back for tomorrow morning?"

He shrugged. "It's a time machine. I can get you back five minutes ago." Then he frowned. "Why, what's tomorrow?"

"Nothing," Amy answered that quite quickly. "Nothing. Just, you know, stuff."

"All right, then. Back in time for stuff." There was a ding and the Doctor turned to see a new sonic screwdriver rising from the console. "Oh! A new one! Lovely. Thanks, dear." However, there was another dinging sound, and the Time Lords turned to see a second sonic rising from the console. It looked less screwdriver like and more like the sonic pen Miss Foster had.

Adelaide walked up and picked it up from the console, twisting it in her fingers, before clicking the end and revealing a pale green sonic tip. She glanced up at the Doctor who could only shrug. It was very clear that the sonic was meant for Adelaide, so she slipped it into her pocket, making a mental note to figure out a way to ensure it wouldn't just fall out randomly.

And to discuss with the Doctor why his TARDIS had given her a sonic.

The Doctor turned to type something on the typewriter that now served as part of the controls.

"Why me?" Amy asked, coming up beside them.

"Why not?"

"No, seriously. You're asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night. It's a fair question. Why me?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know. Fun? Do I have to have a reason?"

"People always have a reason."

"Do I look like people?"

"Yes!"

"Been knocking around on my own for a while." The Doctor made a very conscious choice not to look at Adelaide, but she knew Amy picked up on the word choice, frowning at the pair of them. "My choice, but I've started talking to myself all the time. It's giving me earache."

"You're…lonely." Amy didn't sound like she believed it, and Adelaide was actually quite impressed. "That's it? Just that?"

"Just that. Promise."

"Okay."

"So, are you okay, then? Because this place, sometimes it can make people feel a bit…you know."

Amy nodded. "I'm fine. It's just…there's a whole world in here, just like you said. It's all true. I thought…well, I started to think that maybe you were just a madman with a box."

The Doctor suddenly got extremely serious. "Amy Pond, there's something you'd better understand about me, because it's important, and one day your life may depend on it…" Amy listened carefully. "I am definitely a madman with a box!" he grinned, moving around the console to set the TARDIS into motion. "Ha ha! Yeah! Goodbye, Leadworth! Hello everything!"

 **A/N: Amy's officially a companion! Adelaide has a sonic pen! They're off on their first adventure together! So many exciting things in their future :)**

 **If anyone's intersted, I have Adelaide's current outfit on my Polyvore (which is linked on my profile). A quick warning; my Polyvore does have outfit sets for future stories, so spoilers abound (nothing really serious, but you could certainly get a glimpse of future characters/story ideas).**

 **On that subject, if you do happen to check out my Polyvore, I would be very interested to know which of the stories/characters pictured you're most interested in reading about. I'm trying to decide which stories to work on at the moment, and getting any sort of opinion would be quite helpful :)**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _flowerangel502: The dream lord has some very interesting things to say about Adelaide ;)_

 _lautaro94: Adelaide is currently getting used to the Doctor's new regeneration, so she's a bit quieter than normal because she's trying to get a grasp on their current situation together._

 _CatLady101: Adelaide certainly agrees with you :)_


	3. Protest

**Protest**

Adelaide stood at the doors of the TARDIS, next to the Doctor as he held up a floating Amy. She couldn't help but keep laughing at Amy's expression since the girl was impossibly amazed by the concept of actually floating in outer space.

The Doctor glanced at Adelaide, grinning. They hadn't actually spoken since the Doctor set the TARDIS into motion as Amy almost instantly began asking if the TARDIS was actually a spaceship. This prompted the Doctor to set them hovering in outer space at some point in the future before letting Amy drift outside the TARDIS, holding onto her ankle to ensure she didn't completely float away.

"Come on, Pond," he said, laughing, and pulled Amy back into the TARDIS. Adelaide took a step back so that they both could enter more easily. "Now do you believe me?"

Amy nodded, taking a few deep breaths. "Okay, your box is a spaceship. It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space!" She paused, looking back out the open door. "What are we breathing?"

"I've extended the air shell. We're fine."

Adelaide, glancing down, nodded. "That's interesting."

The Doctor followed her gaze. "Twenty-ninth century. Solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations." He ran back to the TARDIS console. "Migrating to the stars." Adelaide paused, glancing back out the door, to nearly burst into laughter at the sight of Amy clinging to the outside of the TARDIS. "Isn't that amazing?"

Adelaide walked back and helped Amy back into the TARDIS as the Doctor pulled up an image on the TARDIS monitor. "He's found you a spaceship."

The Doctor nodded. "This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship, that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing. Searching the stars for a new home."

The TARDIS gave a bit of a jolt as it landed in some sort of marketplace. "Can we go out and see?"

"Of course we can. But first, there's a thing."

Amy frowned. "A thing?"

"An important thing." The Doctor looked towards Adelaide then, since this would actually be the first traveling adventure she and him would be going on as a Time Lady. "In fact, Thing One. We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples of planets." He flicked a few more buttons on the console, switching the scanner image to that of a young girl, sitting alone, crying. "Ooo, that's interesting."

Amy moved to stand beside the scanner as the Doctor and Adelaide hurried out of the TARDIS, the human not realizing they were leaving. The Doctor went up to the girl, speaking to her while Adelaide stayed closer to the TARDIS before the girl went away. Adelaide sighed and waved Amy out of the TARDIS.

"Welcome to London Market. You are being monitored."

Amy turned around in amazement, the Doctor coming up beside Adelaide. "I'm in the future. Like hundreds of years in the future." Her eyes widened. "I've been dead for centuries."

The Doctor frowned. "Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one." He leapt forward and took Amy's arm, forcing her to continue along after him and Adelaide. "Never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?"

"What's wrong?"

"Use your eyes," Adelaide called, turning to walk backward. "What's wrong with the picture?"

Amy studied the marketplace. "Is it the bicycles? Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles."

The Doctor chuckled. "Says the girl in the nightie."

Amy paused, looking down at herself. "Oh my God, I'm in my nightie."

"Actually look. Notice everything," Adelaide reminded her, drawing Amy's attention back to the crowd.

"London Market is a crime-free zone," the loudspeaker said.

"Life on a giant starship. Back to basics. Bicycles," the Doctor pointed to each thing as he named it, "washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state." He stepped away from Amy and towards a table. "Excuse me." He grabbed a glass of water from the table, placing it on the ground for a moment before replacing it on the table and dashing back to the two of them.

Amy frowned at him. "Why did you just do that with the water?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, police state. Do you see it yet?"

"Where?"

Adelaide pointed at the little girl dressed in red, that the Doctor had practically scared away, still sitting alone and crying. "There."

The three of them moved to a bench near where the girl was sitting so that they could watch her without her really being able to see them. "One little girl crying." Amy shook her head. "So?"

"Crying silently. I mean, children cry because they want attention, because they're hurt or afraid. But when they cry silently, it's because they just can't stop. Any parent knows that."

Amy eyed the Time Lords. "Are you two parents?"

Adelaide watched the Doctor's expression. She knew from being Caroline and meeting Jenny that he had been a father before, that he had lost all of them when Gallifrey fell. But she didn't know anything about them, really she didn't know anything about the Doctor's life before the war. All she knew was the man he was now.

She, however, could have had a simple answer for Amy's question if she'd wanted to give it. She'd never been a mother in any form of the word and she'd never wanted to be. She was perfectly happy not having a child of her own.

But that didn't mean she didn't care for children. She just didn't want to be their mother.

The Doctor didn't answer Amy's question. "Hundreds of parents walking past who spot her and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows, whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere." He nodded. "A police state."

The girl stood as a lift bell rang, and she vanished. "Where'd she go?"

"Deck 207, Apple Sesame block, Dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner. Oh…" he pulled an ID packet from his pocket "this fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her. Took me four goes. Ask her about those things." The Doctor nodded at the smiling figures in surrounding booths, one of which had turned to follow Mandy as she walked away. "The smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere."

"But they're just things."

Adelaide shook her head. "They're clean. Everything else here is dirty, but there's no footprint within two feet of those booths."

The Doctor nodded. "Look. Ask Mandy; why are people scared of the things in the booths?"

"No, hang on. What do I do? I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed."

He shrugged. "It's this or Leadworth. What do you think? Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose?" He grinned. "Ha ha, gotcha. Meet us back here in half an hour." He stood from the bench.

"What are you going to do?"

The Doctor walked away backward. "What I always do. Stay out of trouble." He glanced at Adelaide's expression. "Badly."

"So is this how it works?" Amy called to them. "You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?"

He nodded. "Yes." Then, giving Amy a small salute, he vanished into the marketplace.

Adelaide paused, just standing from moving to follow the Doctor. "Remember your manners," Adelaide reminded the human. "People like you more if you have good manners." Then, with a wave, she followed the Doctor.

|C-S|

The Time Lords had a bit of a difficulty agreeing on where to actually look for a way down to the engine room. They'd both been in starships before, just not actually one of this kind. But each starship had a slightly different method of organizing itself and they couldn't actually agree on which general path to follow.

Therefore, it was very helpful when they managed to stumble upon the maintenance ladder. The Doctor went down first and was feeling the wall when Adelaide arrived, though she just pulled out her sonic to try and get a feel of using it. At some point amidst their arguing, the Doctor had explained that, so far, there had not been a single sign there were actually engines to this starship.

Being where they were was even more proof.

The Doctor paused and Adelaide followed his gaze to another still glass of water on the ground.

"The impossible truth in a glass of water." They looked up to see a woman with a white mask covering most of her face. "Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor?"

He frowned. "You know me?"

The woman held a finger to her lips. "Keep your voice down. They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass."

The Doctor shrugged. "Who says I see anything?"

"Don't waste time! At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?"

"No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So, I thought I'd take a look. It doesn't make sense." He opened a power box on the wall, showing the unconnected wires. "These power couplings, they're not connected. Look. Look, they're dummies, see? And behind this wall," he tapped it, "nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was…"

"No engine at all," the woman finished for him.

"But it's working. This ship is traveling through space. We saw it."

She nodded. "The impossible truth, Doctor. We're traveling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly."

"How?"

The woman shrugged. "I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor. You're our only hope. Your friend is safe." She gave the Doctor a device. "This will take you to her. Now go, quickly!" she walked away quickly.

"Who are you?" the Doctor called after her. "How do I find you again?"

The woman paused. "I am Liz 10, and I will find you."

The lights flickered and when they returned, the woman was gone. The Doctor glanced at Adelaide, who was frowning where Liz 10 had been. "How did she know you?" She met his eyes. "Spend much time around old British royal families?"

"How did you…"

"She walks like a queen and, trust me, I've met quite a few of them. And she's the tenth in a long line of people who obviously know who the Doctor is." Adelaide grinned before nodding at the device. "Shall we go find your companion now?"

The Doctor was very tempted to ask Adelaide more about when she would have encountered enough queens that she could identify one on sight but now wasn't really the time. The two of them really did need to have a conversation at some point about their pasts, since he knew nothing about her's and she knew some basic facts about his.

Now, however, they needed to track down Amy.

|C-S|

The device Liz 10 gave the Doctor brought them right to where Mandy as waiting, pacing nervously, which meant Amy was somewhere nearby.

Most likely inside the door that said 'occupied'. As the Doctor pacified Mandy briefly, who recognized him from his various attempts to run into her to steal her wallet, Adelaide managed to sonic the doors open. One of the walls was covered with screens, with the largest playing a recording of Amy, while the woman in question sat in front looking like she'd recently been crying.

"Listen to me. This isn't a trick. This is for real."

Adelaide looked between the screens and Amy. "Amy?"

"You've got to find the Doctor and Adelaide…" Amy cut off the screen before it could say anything else.

"What have you done?"

The Doctor stepped into the room as well, scanning the device in the ceiling. "Yeah, your basic memory wipe job. Must have erased about twenty minutes."

Amy frowned, wiping her eyes like she didn't remember why she was crying. "But why would I choose to forget?"

"Because everyone does," Mandy said, making them all turn to her. "Everyone chooses the Forget button."

"Did you?"

She shrugged. "I'm not eligible to vote yet; I'm twelve. Any time after you're sixteen, you're allowed to see the film and make your choice. And then once every five years."

Adelaide nodded. "Once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned."

"Democracy in action."

Mandy frowned at the Doctor and Adelaide. "How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?"

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, we're way worse than Scottish."

Adelaide studied the screen. "We can't even see the movie. Won't play."

"It played for me."

Adelaide nodded. "The crucial difference being the computer doesn't accept us as human." Part of her wondered what would have happened if she'd come across this computer as Caroline, especially once her Time Lady self had begun to leak out.

Amy's eyes widened. "Why not? You look human."

"No, you look Time Lord." The Doctor smirked. "We came first."

"So there are other Time Lords, yeah?"

The Doctor paused, looking towards Adelaide. It was very obvious that she knew at least part of what had happened in the war, that she hadn't agreed with it if she'd run away and gone all the way to hide as human, but he still didn't know why she'd done it. "No," he spoke quietly, watching as Adelaide looked determinedly at the buttons so that she didn't risk looking at him. "There were, but there aren't."

"Just us now."

He nodded. "Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened. And you know what? I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't. Not ever. Because this is what I do, every time, every day, every second. This."

Adelaide narrowed her eyes. "Hold tight. We're bringing down the government." She hit the Protest button as hard as she possibly could, shocking the Doctor a bit with the force. The door slammed shut, trapping Mandy outside, while the Smiler at the back of the room switched to quite an angry face. The Doctor pulled Amy with him to one of the corners of the room, Adelaide moving to the other side, as the floor slid open.

"Say 'whee!'" the Doctor called.

Amy screamed when the Doctor practically pushed her down the hole, the Time Lords falling down right after. They landed in a pile of liquid and chunks of various things, though the scent hinted at it being at least partially organic.

The Time Lords scrambled to their feet, both sonicing the space they found themselves in. "High-speed air cannon," the Doctor declared. "Lousy way to travel."

"Where are we?"

"Six hundred feet down, twenty miles laterally, puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say…Lancashire." The Doctor turned in a circle. "What's this then, a cave? Can't be a cave. Looks like a cave."

Amy managed to pick herself up from the rubbish. "It's a rubbish dump, and it's minging!"

Adelaide shrugged. "Only food refuse. Must be coming through feeder tubes all over the ship."

Amy bounced where she stood slightly. "The floor's all squidgy, like a water bed."

She glanced at the Doctor. "Feeding what?"

"It's sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy."

There was a mixture of a roar and a moan behind them, and it was very clearly an animal. "Er…it's not a floor, it's a…so…"

Amy eyed the Doctor. "It's a what?"

"The next word is kind of a scary word." He took Amy's arms, keeping her still. You probably want to take a moment, get yourself in a calm place. Go 'omm'."

"Omm."

"It's a…tongue."

"A tongue?"

He grinned. "A tongue. A great big tongue."

"This is a mouth." Amy pointed around them. "This whole place is a mouth? We're in a mouth?"

The Doctor bounced a bit in place, making Adelaide laugh. "Yes, yes, yes. But on the plus side, roomy."

"How do we get out?"

He used his sonic again. "How big is this beastie? It's gorgeous. Blimey, if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach." He paused. "Though not right now."

"Doctor, how do we get out?"

"Fed through surgically implanted feeding tubes," Adelaide cut in. She was curious too, so impossibly curious, but it would likely be much safer to be curious outside of the unknown creature's mouth. "Must mean the mouth is closed for business." She turned to the large rows of teeth on the other side of the mouth.

Amy shrugged, stepping forward. "We could try, though."

"No, stop, don't move!" the Doctor reached for her arm, but the entire space was already moving. "Too late. It's started."

Amy froze. "What has?"

"Swallow reflex." The tongue moved again, this time making them actually slip backward, as the Doctor frantically began to sonic the sides.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors."

Amy shook her head. "Chemo-what?"

"The eject button."

She frowned. "How does a mouth have an eject button?"

"Think about it!" They managed to stand just as a practical wall of bile rushed towards them. "Right, then. This isn't going to be big on dignity." He straightened his bowtie. "Geronimo!"

|C-S|

Once the Time Lords woke up, thankfully before Amy, the Doctor scanned her to ensure nothing was seriously broken while Adelaide studied the door at the end of the hall. The moment he heard the human stirring, he called back everything he'd determined. "There's nothing broken, there's no sign of concussion and yes, you are covered in sick."

"Where are we?"

"Overspill pipe, at a guess."

Amy grimaced. "Oh, God, it stinks."

"Oh, that's not the pipe."

"Oh." Amy sniffed herself. "Phew! Can we get out?"

The Time Lords stepped back to let Amy see the door. "One door, one door switch, one condition," Adelaide said. "We forget everything we saw. Look familiar?"

"That's the carrot." The Doctor soniced a panel, lighting up the hall and revealing two Smilers behind them. "Ooo, here's the stick." The Time Lords turned to face them. "There's a creature living in the heart of this ship. What's it doing there?" the Smilers switched to a sad expression. "No, that's not going to work on us, so come on. Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That how it works?" they switched to quite an angry expression. "Oh, stop it. We're not leaving and we're not forgetting, and what are you fellows going to do about it? Stick out your tongues, huh?"

Adelaide wouldn't deny that she was a bit surprised when the robots actually got up and out of the booth. They all backed up against the wall, not certain exactly what would happen when the robots got too close.

 **A/N: Sorry this chapter was a day late, but I decided that it'd be better to post something - even if late - than nothing at all. The Time Lords are having an interesting time together, but it seems like the Doctor's gotten used to having Adelaide there with him.**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: That is certainly an interesting scene, both for the Doctor and Adelaide's reaction to everything ;)_

 _AxidentlGoddess: It is certainly hard for the Doctor, but thankfully he's getting better quickly. The two really do need to talk, but sadly not talking will be something that plagues them for a while._

 _CatLady101: Thankfully, seems to be more the first one than the second :)_


	4. Abdicate

**Abdicate**

However, then somebody stepped between them, shooting the robots. Liz 10, sans mask, smirked as she twirled her pistols and stuck them back into her holsters. "Look who it is," the Doctor cheered. "You look a lot better without your mask."

Liz 10 glanced at Amy. "You must be Amy. Liz. Liz 10."

They shook hands. "Hi."

Liz 10 grimaced, wiping her hand on her cloak. "Yuck. Lovely hair, Amy. Shame about the sick." She turned and gestured them back to the door, revealing Mandy waiting for them. "You know Mandy, yeah? She's very brave."

The Doctor frowned. "How did you find us?"

"Stuck my gizmo on you." She tossed him another tracking device. "Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?"

"You're over sixteen, you've voted. Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it."

Liz 10 shrugged. "No. Never forgot, never voted, not technically a British subject."

"Then who and what are you, and how do you know me?" Adelaide shook her head at him. The Doctor had most certainly seemed more willing to listen to Caroline then he was Adelaide and she did somewhat understand that. Caroline had been an observant human who had intrigued him. Adelaide was a stranger Time Lady he knew nothing about.

Liz 10 chuckled. "You're a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious stranger, MO consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot. I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was."

The Doctor frowned. "Your family?"

Liz 10 glanced back at the robots. "They're repairing. Doesn't take them long. Let's move." She led them out of the corridor, leading the group to lower corridors of the ship. "The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry XII. Tea and scones with Liz II. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day. And so much for the Virgin Queen, you bad, bad boy."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Liz 10."

"Now you're getting it," Adelaide sighed.

Liz 10 smirked. "Liz 10, yeah. Elizabeth the Tenth. And down!" they all ducked as she fired her pistols back at the robots following them. "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule." They continued down the corridor, and Liz glanced at Adelaide. "You look familiar but…"

"But any story I'm mentioned in describes me as the Doctor's human companion?" Adelaide finished for her, and Liz 10 nodded. "I was, for a time. Only recently returned to my normal self." She glanced at Amy's wide-eyed expression. "I'll explain later."

"Then you're a Time Lord as well?"

"Time Lady." Adelaide shrugged. "If you want to be old-fashioned."

"Name?"

"Adelaide."

Li 10's eyes widened a bit. "Oh, so it is you!" Adelaide frowned. "Whenever you'd pop up in the family you'd always warn them to acknowledge the Doctor first, just in case you were a human the next time you met. Didn't want anyone to accidently spill the secrets."

Adelaide nodded. That did seem like something she and the Doctor would implement, especially if they ran into someone before they'd seen them while she was human. Just to ensure the timelines stayed properly intact. And it was good to see people were actually listening.

Liz 10 stopped at the end of another corridor. "There's a high-speed Vator through there." She looked back at the Time Lords, seeing them studying a caged area with two bits of tentacle sticking out of the ground. "Oh, yeah. There's these things. Any ideas?"

Given the Doctor's expression, Adelaide knew that he could also hear the horrible sound. And given Amy and Liz 10's reactions, it was above human hearing.

"Doctor, Adelaide, I saw one of these up top," Amy said. "There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through like a root."

The Doctor nodded. "Exactly like a root. It's all one creature, the same one we were inside, reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship."

"What, like an infestation?"

"Someone's helping it. Feeding it.'

Liz 10 scoffed. "Feeding my subjects to it. Come on. Got to keep moving." She led the way, Mandy following, but the Time Lords and Amy stayed for a moment.

"Doctor?" Amy asked carefully. "Adelaide?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Oh, Amy. We should never have come here."

|C-S|

The Doctor carefully picked his way through the maze of water glasses that filled the floor of Liz 10's bedroom. "Why all the glasses?"

"To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and it's my duty to find out what." Liz 10 lay back on her bed.

The Doctor carefully picked up the mask Liz 10 had been wearing. "A queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom?"

"Secrets are being kept from me. I don't have a choice." She sighed. "Ten years I've been at this. My entire reign. And you've achieved more in one afternoon." The Doctor began to pace as he held the mask.

"How old were you when you took the throne?" Adelaide called, standing at the edge of the water glasses.

"40. Why?"

Amy gasped, coming to sit beside Mandy at the foot of the bed. "What, you're 50 now? No way."

Liz 10 nodded. "Yeah, they slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps."

"And you always wear this in public?" he held up the mask.

"Undercover's not easy when you're me. The autographs, the bunting…"

The Doctor flashed the mask with his sonic. "Air-balanced porcelain. Stays on by itself, because it's perfectly sculpted to your face."

Liz 10 nodded. "Yeah? So what?"

He only glanced back at Adelaide before speaking. "Oh, Liz. So everything."

The door opened from behind Adelaide and she quickly backed up to allow four hooded men to enter.

"What are you doing?" Liz 10 demanded. "How dare you come in here?"

"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK. You will come with us now."

"Why would I do that?" the man's face spun around to become one of the angry robots. "How can they be Smilers?"

Adelaide shrugged. "Half-Smiler, half-human."

"Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?"

"The highest authority, ma'am."

"I am the highest authority."

The man nodded. "Yes, ma'am. You must go now, ma'am."

"Where?"

"The Tower, ma'am."

|C-S|

The Tower turned out to be what looked essentially like the main control room of the starship. There were multiple holes of grating through which they could see even more tentacles, and children wandering through the room. The Doctor and Adelaide glanced at each other before continuing to follow Liz 10.

"Doctor, where are we?" Amy asked him quietly.

The Doctor spun, spreading his arms out wide. "The lowest point of Starship UK. The dungeon."

"Ma'am." An older man bowed to Liz 10.

"Hawthorne," she said, eyes widened. "So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do."

"There's children down here," the Doctor said, stepping forward. "What's all that about?"

"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast," Hawthorne told them. "For some reason, it won't eat the children. You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky."

"Yeah, look at us. Torture chamber of the Tower of London." He walked around the room, while Adelaide looked towards a large open well in the center of the room. "Lucky, lucky, lucky. Except it's not a torture chamber, is it? Well, except it is. Except it isn't. Depends on your angle."

Liz 10 followed Adelaide's gaze. "What's that?"

"Like he said," Adelaide said, and for once the Doctor wasn't surprised by the tone of her voice, "it depends on the angle. It's either the exposed pain center of the creature's brain, relentlessly tortured."

"Or?"

"The accelerator."

Liz 10 shook her head. "I don't understand."

"Don't you?" the Doctor prompted, coming to Adelaide's side. "Try to. Go on. The spaceship that could never fly. No vibration on deck. This creature, this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It's not infesting you, it's not invading, it's what you have instead of an engine. And this place" he gestured at it "down here is where you hurt it, where you torture it, day after day, just to keep it moving." A bolt of energy struck the creature's brain.

Adelaide stepped back from the Doctor, moving closer to a tentacle while she drew out her sonic. "Normally, it's above the range of human hearing, but we'll give you a treat today. This is the sound none of you wanted to hear." She soniced the tentacle, finally letting everyone else hear the screams.

"Stop it!" Liz 10 called, turning to Hawthorne as Adelaide did. "Who did this?"

"We act on instructions from the highest authority."

"I am the highest authority. The creature will be released, now." No one moved. "I said now! Is anyone listening to me?"

The Doctor stepped forward, still holding Liz 10's mask. "Liz. Your mask."

"What about my mask?"

"Look at it. It's old. At least two hundred years old, I'd say."

Liz 10 shrugged. "Yeah? It's an antique. So?"

"Yeah, an antique made by craftsmen over two hundred years ago and perfectly sculpted to your face?" The Doctor sighed. "They slowed your body clock, all right, but you're not fifty. Nearer three hundred. And it's been a long old reign."

"Nah, it's ten years. I've been on this throne ten years."

Adelaide nodded. "The same ten years, over and over again."

"Always leading you here." The Doctor took Liz 10's arm and led her to a smaller voting area: Forget or Abdicate.

Liz 10 turned to Hawthorne. "What have you done?"

"Only what you have ordered. We work for you, ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us." Hawthorne turned on the screen, displaying a recording of Liz 10.

"If you are watching this…if I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower of London. The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travelers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. And what we have done to it breaks my heart."

The Time Lords weren't looking at each other now.

"The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the Star Whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the Forget button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision."

Amy gasped, turning to the Time Lords in shock. "I voted for this. Why would I do that?"

"Because you knew If we stayed here, the two of us would be faced with an impossible choice. Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save us from that. And that was wrong." The Doctor looked up at Amy. "You don't ever decide what we need to know."

Amy shook her head. "I don't even remember doing it."

The Doctor shrugged. "You did it. That's what counts."

"I'm…I'm sorry."

"Oh, I don't care." The Doctor was nearly sneering, but all Adelaide could do was stare at the buttons. She knew what Amy had done was wrong, Amy had no right to decide what they knew or didn't know, but…she'd only had two choices. "When we're done here, you're going home." The Doctor stormed off.

"Why? Because I made a mistake? One mistake? I don't even remember doing it." She strode over to the Doctor, who was ignoring her. "Doctor!"

"Yeah, I know. You're only human."

Adelaide stepped up to the Doctor's side, stepping between him and Amy. "Doctor…"

"Not now Adelaide."

She raised her eyebrows. "You're not alone anymore, Doctor. I'm not just going to let your emotions cloud your judgment."

"Oh, and you're so good at separating them?"

Adelaide clenched her jaw. "You know nothing about why I did what I did, Doctor, so do not presume." She paused. "If this is how you plan on continuing to act, I don't see what Caroline saw in you. Or even Rose." Then she stepped back, letting the Doctor follow her with wide eyes.

She hadn't meant to bring up Caroline, but she was already upset about what the humans were doing to this Star Whale that the Doctor's reaction was not something she could deal with at the moment. She already knew he was a bit too emotional for his own good, she had that problem sometimes too, but with situations like this, you couldn't let yourself get too emotional.

You couldn't let yourself go around blaming your human companion because she didn't have a choice.

"What are you doing?" Liz 10 asked carefully, watching as the Doctor continued to work and Adelaide stepped back, her arms crossed.

"The worst thing I'll ever do. I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it."

Amy's eyes widened. "That'll be like killing it."

The Doctor paused, looking up at the two humans. "Look, three options. One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, because I won't be the Doctor anymore."

"There must be something we can do, some other way."

"Nobody talk to me." The Doctor glared at them. "Nobody human has anything to say to me today!"

"Finally glad I became a Time Lady again then?" Adelaide said, making the Doctor turn to her as Liz 10 and Amy turned away. "Because I can talk to you, Doctor, I'm the only one with a right to do so today."

"What do you have to say to me, Adelaide?"

She leaned forward, leaning against the control panel he was working on. "Take my advice. Notice everything. Use your eyes."

As she spoke, she nodded towards Amy, who was watching as Mandy and other children gently touched the tentacle. Amy turned around, meeting Adelaide's eyes before rushing over to the Doctor. "Doctor, stop. Whatever you're doing, stop it now!" Thankfully, the man already had. Amy grabbed Liz 10's arm. "Sorry, Your Majesty. Going to need a hand." She dragged the queen to the voting buttons.

Adelaide reached out an arm to stop the Doctor running after Amy.

Amy slammed Liz 10's hand on the Abdicate button. The Star Whale bellowed and the ship shook.

"Amy, what have you done?"

"Nothing at all." Amy grinned, and Adelaide laughed. "Am I right?"

Hawthorne nodded, eyes wide. "We've increased speed."

She shrugged. "Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot. Got to help."

Liz 10 shook her head. "It's still here. I don't understand."

"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn't have to trap it or torture it. That was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry." Amy looked towards the Doctor. "What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead. No future. What couldn't you do then? If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."

|C-S|

The Doctor and Adelaide stood on the observation deck of the starship. Amy was off talking with Liz 10, but the Time Lords needed a moment alone.

"How could you do it?" he asked quietly. "Just remove your emotions when you look at a situation."

"I don't remove emotions, Doctor. I separate them as best as I can. I look at a situation with as much logic as I can possibly manage." She crossed her arms. "I've had a lot of practice with it."

"Did you travel then? On Gallifrey?"

Adelaide smiled. "I ran from Gallifrey as soon as I possibly could."

"Why?"

"Why did you?"

The Time Lords glanced at each other, knowing they needed to have this conversation soon. They had to discuss themselves as two Time Lords, where he could speak about things he would have never been able to say to Caroline.

It was just…now wasn't the time.

Amy walked up to the pair of them, obviously knowing they'd just been having a conversation. "From Her Majesty." She held out the mask. "She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK."

"Amy," the Doctor turned to face her, "you could have killed everyone on this ship."

"You could have killed a Star Whale."

He smiled. "And you saved it. I know, I know."

"Amazing though, don't you think? The Star Whale. All that pain and misery and loneliness," Amy smiled at the Doctor, "and it just made it kind."

"But you couldn't have known how it would react."

Amy shrugged. "You couldn't. But I've seen it before. Very old and very kind, and the very, very last. Sound a bit familiar?" She hugged him. "Hey."

The Doctor pulled away. "What?"

"Gotcha."

"Ha! Gotcha."

Amy turned away, heading back towards where they'd left the TARDIS. Adelaide stepped forward so that she met the Doctor's pace. "Amy only had two options, you know. Forget or protest. And she was already scared. You were approaching the situation from an outsider's perspective."

"What would you have done?"

"If I had just learned that my country was taking advantage of a helpless alien creature in order to keep everyone alive?" Adelaide sighed. "I've already pressed both buttons."

Then she continued her pace so that she met up with Amy, leaving the Doctor to look after her as she walked away.

He knew there was a reason that she had turned herself human to escape the Time War. Given her favoring of logic over everything else, it had to have been a logical decision. And if she'd already pressed both buttons…by turning herself human and forgetting, she'd been protesting something. Most likely, what the Time Lords had been planning on doing because it was very clear she'd known something about their final plan.

The Doctor just didn't know what. He didn't know anything about Adelaide, and that wasn't technically from lack of trying. True, he never pushed that hard, but she almost always shut his questions down.

Perhaps she just didn't trust him yet. That was understandable; he didn't really trust her.

But given River and Liz 10's reactions to her, the pair of them continued traveling together for a long time. Which he could understand; Adelaide was the only other last Time Lord in the universe. They couldn't separate now that they'd found each other again.

The Doctor met up with Amy and Adelaide just as they entered the market, walking on the other side of Amy. "Shouldn't we say goodbye?" the human asked. "Won't they wonder where we went?"

He shrugged. "For the rest of their lives. Oh, the songs they'll write." They stepped up to the TARDIS. "Never mind them. Big day tomorrow."

Amy froze. "Sorry, what?"

"Well, it's always a bit day tomorrow." The Doctor pat the side of the TARDIS. "We've got a time machine. I skip the little ones."

Amy looked a bit nervous. "You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning? Have you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just…just because you could?"

The Doctor nodded. "Once, a long time ago." He glanced at Adelaide. Why had she run from Gallifrey, turning to the universe over her own people?

"What happened?"

He pushed open the door to the TARDIS, gesturing for Amy to step inside and walk up to the console. "Hello."

Amy nodded. "Right." She swallowed as the Time Lords stepped up to either side of the console. "Doctor, Adelaide, there's something I haven't told you." She paused. "No, hang on. Is that a phone ringing?" Indeed it was. "People phone you?"

The Doctor just shrugged. "Well, it's a phone box. Would you mind?" he nodded to it as the Time Lords worked to set the TARDIS to take off.

"Hello?" Amy said. "Sorry, who? No, seriously, who?" She put the phone against her shoulder. "Says he's the Prime Minister. First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?"

"Which Prime Minister?" The Doctor pulled a lever.

"Er, which Prime Minister? The British one."

The Doctor nodded. "Which British one?"

"Which British one?" Amy's eyes widened and she held out the phone to the Doctor. "Winston Churchill for you."

The Doctor grinned, taking the phone eagerly. "Oh! Hello, dear. What's up?" A pause, and Adelaide was reminded of how much she really hated one-sided conversations. "Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister. We're on our way." The Doctor hung up the phone, grinning at Adelaide and Amy, before sending the TARDIS off to follow the call.

 **A/N: The Doctor's clearly intrigued about Adelaide and why she did what she did, but he seems to have decided that she's not going anywhere anytime soon :)**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: They almost did it here, but sadly they didn't get far._

 _flowerangel502: The Doctor's certainly thinking along those lines now. I'm excited for the Dream Lord too; he was really fun to do._


	5. Old Enemies

**Old Enemies**

The Doctor and Adelaide landed the TARDIS in a filing room. They had waited to give Amy enough time to finally change out of her nightie, since meeting Winston Churchill was a bit more impressive than the planned simple trip to the Starship UK. Neither Time Lord was that surprised when they didn't really talk as they waited; both knew they needed to have a conversation, but neither really wanted to.

Though, Amy leaving to change did remind them that their clothing did smell like bile, so they both had also changed…into almost exact replicas of their previous outfits.

The Doctor was the first to stick his head out of the TARDIS, though he paused when he found himself staring down the barrels of quite a few guns. Thankfully, however, they stepped aside to let Winston Churchill step forward. The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS completely. "Amy?" he called behind him just as Adelaide stepped out, turning back to face Churchill with his arms spread wide. "Winston Churchill."

"Doctor?" Winston looked him over. "Is it you?"

"Oh, Winston, my old friend!" The Doctor moved to shake his hand, but Winston only motioned for something. "Ah, every time."

Amy frowned, stepping out of the TARDIS to stand next to Adelaide. "What's he after?"

"TARDIS key, of course."

"Think of what I could achieve with your remarkable machine, Doctor. The lives that could be saved!"

Adelaide closed the door behind her, leaning against it, as the Doctor shook his head. "Ah, doesn't work like that."

"Must I take it by force?"

The Doctor laughed. "I'd like to see you try."

Churchill chuckled, nodding to the soldiers. "At ease."

The Doctor grinned. "You rang?" Winston gestured them to follow him out of the room and into a corridor. They could vaguely hear the sounds of an air raid siren above them. "So you've changed your face again."

"Yeah, well, had a bit of work done."

"Got it, got it, got it," Amy bounced as she walked. "Cabinet War Rooms, right?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yep. Top secret heart of the War Office, right under London."

"You're late, by the way," Winston said as a woman walked up to him.

"Requisitions, sir."

Winston took the papers she handed them. "Excellent."

The Doctor frowned. "Late?"

"I rang you a month ago."

"Really? Sorry, sorry. It's a Type 40 TARDIS. I'm just running her in."

Winston frowned at the woman, handing her back the clipboard. "Something the matter, Breen? You look a little down in the dumps."

"No, sir. Fine, sir."

"Action this day, Breen. Action this day!"

Breen nodded, forcing a smile. "Yes, sir."

"Excuse me, sir," an officer walked over. "Got another formation coming in, Prime Minister. Stukas, by the look of them."

"We shall go up top then, Group Captain! We'll give them what for. Coming, Doctor?"

The Doctor frowned. "Why?"

"I have something to show you." Winston brought the three of them to a lift, beginning to puff his cigar, making the Doctor wave the smoke away from his face. "We stand at a crossroads, Doctor, quite alone, with our backs to the wall. Invasion is expected daily. So I will grasp with both hands anything that will give us an advantage over the Nazi menace."

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "Such as?" Winston glanced at her. "I'm Adelaide. Same as him." She nodded towards the Doctor.

Winston nodded at her. "Pleasure to meet you, Adelaide." The lift stopped, and Winston opened the gate. "Follow me."

He brought them out onto a rooftop with sandbags lining the edge and a man in a lab coat looking through binoculars.

"Wow," Amy gasped, looking out at the skyline of London.

"Doctor, Adelaide, this is Professor Edwin Bracewell." Winston gestured to the man with binoculars. "Head of our Ironsides Project."

The Doctor made the 'V for Victory' sign, Bracewell just waving. "How do you do?"

A bomb landed nearby, and the Time Lords turned to see the small line of German planes. "Oh, Doctor, Adelaide…" Amy shook her head "it's…"

"History."

"Ready, Bracewell?"

The man gave a thumbs up. "Aye aye, sir. On my order! Fire!"

A laser shot out from behind the sandbags and hit the German planes, destroying them. The Time Lords recognized that laser instantly, but they didn't want it to be true. No…it couldn't be.

"What was that?" Amy asked them.

"That wasn't human. That was never human technology. That sounded like…show us!" the Doctor ran forwards, Adelaide a few steps behind, and climbed the ladder to stand beside Bracewell. "Show us what that was!"

Bracewell nodded. "Advance."

Winston grinned. "Our new secret weapon. Ha!" And then a Dalek rolled out from behind the sandbags. It was painted army green, with a utility belt and a Union Flag painted on. But it was a Dalek, a full-blown Dalek. The last time Adelaide had seen them she'd been human, but she'd had enough Time Lady back in her then to sense that the Daleks were a horrible thing. Now…now she knew for certain. "What do you think? Quite something, eh?"

The Doctor walked right up to the Dalek. "What are you doing here?"

"I am your soldier."

The Doctor frowned, shaking his head. "What?"

"I am your soldier."

"Stop this. Stop now! You know who I am. You always know."

"Your identity is unknown."

Bracewell stepped forward. "Perhaps I can clarify things here. This is one of my Ironsides."

The Time Lords frowned. "Your what?"

"You will help the Allied cause in any way that you can," Bracewell addressed the Dalek.

"Yes."

"Until the Germans have been utterly smashed."

"Yes."

"And what is your ultimate aim?"

"To win the war!"

|C-S|

Winston brought them back to his office when it was clear enough that the Time Lords did not believe that the 'Ironside' was a human invention. He had any bit of information from the building process spread out on his desk, but the Time Lords didn't care.

They just needed to convince Winston Churchill that he should not be using Daleks to try to win the war, because these were Daleks, and they should never be trusted.

"They're Daleks!" the Doctor tried telling Winston again, having been attempting the same as the man had brought them back down. "They're called Daleks."

"They are Bracewell's Ironsides. Look! Blueprints, statistics, field tests, photographs. He invented them!"

"Invented them?" The Doctor scoffed. "Oh, no, no, no."

Winston nodded. "Yes! He approached one of our brass hats a few months ago. Fellow's a genius."

"A Scottish genius, too," Amy commented. "Maybe you should listen to…"

"Shush!" the Doctor glared at her before turning back to Winston. "He didn't invent them. They're alien."

Winston raised his eyebrows. "Alien."

The Doctor paused, seeing a Dalek glide past the doorway, just watching it until it got out of sight. "And totally hostile."

"Precisely! They will win me the war." Winston tossed a propaganda poster at them before leaving.

The time travelers didn't wait long to follow him. "Why won't you listen to me?" the Doctor tried. "Why did you call me in if you won't listen to me?"

"When I rang you a month ago, I must admit I had my doubts. The Ironsides seemed too good to be true."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes. Right. So destroy them. Exterminate them."

"But imagine what I could do with a hundred. A thousand."

"I am imaging."

Adelaide turned to Amy. "Amy, tell him."

However, the woman only frowned. "Tell him what?"

"About the Daleks."

"Why would I know about the Daleks?"

"They invaded Earth," Adelaide was hoping the woman was just pretending because if she actually didn't remember the Daleks invading Earth only a few years after it happened, there was something far worse going on. "Planets in the sky? You don't just forget the Daleks."

Amy only shook her head. "Don't know, sorry."

The Time Lords looked at each other before looking wide-eyed at Amy. "That's not possible," the Doctor breathed.

Amy, clearly not thinking anything of it, just shrugged and kept walking after Winston into the map room.

"I don't like this," Adelaide said and the Doctor nodded in agreement. She didn't notice, walking forwards past him, but the Doctor flexed his hand like he wanted to reach for something but didn't.

"2357, over," Breen said as the Time Lords entered the room.

The Doctor eyed a passing Dalek. "So, they're up to something. But what is it? What are they after?"

"Well, let's just ask, shall we?" Amy strode right up to the Dalek, ignoring the Doctor's, and Adelaide's, attempts to get her to stop. She rapped on the casing until the Dalek swiveled to look at her.

"Can I be of assistance?"

"Oh. Yes, yes. See, my friends reckon you're dangerous. That you're an alien. Is it true?"

"I am your soldiers."

Amy nodded. "Yeah. Got that bit. Love a squaddie. What else, though?"

The Dalek just turned away. "Please excuse me. I have duties to perform."

The Doctor rushed over to Winston, actually pulling his cigar from his mouth. "Winston. Winston, please."

"We are waging total war, Doctor! Day after day the Luftwaffe pound this great city like an iron fist."

Adelaide scoffed. "Wait till the Daleks begin."

"Men, women, and children slaughtered. Families torn apart. Wren's churches in flame."

"Want to see Earth in flames?"

Winston ignored her. "I weep for my country. I weep for my empire. It is breaking my heart."

The Doctor followed him as he moved around the table. "You're resisting, Winston. The whole world knows you're resisting. You're a beacon of hope."

"But for how long? Millions of innocent lives will be saved if I use these Ironsides now."

A Dalek rolled forward. "Can I be of assistance?"

"Shut it," the Doctor snapped. "Listen to us. Just listen. The Daleks have no conscience, no mercy, no pity. They are our oldest and deadliest enemy. You cannot trust them."

"If Hitler invaded hell, I would give a favorable reference to the Devil!" Winston snapped, glaring at the Doctor slightly. "These machines are our salvation." A siren sounded and Winston sighed, almost relaxing slightly. "Oh, the All Clear. We are safe, for now." He left the room, followed by a Dalek.

Amy walked up to them. "It's the All Clear." She frowned at them. "You okay?"

"What does hate look like, Amy?"

"Hate?"

"It looks like a Dalek. And I'm going to prove it." The Doctor led the way towards Bracewell's lab, his fists clenched by his side. Just as they entered, a Dalek slid up to Bracewell, offering him tea. "All right, Prof." Bracewell turned to face them. "Now, the PM's been filling us in. Amazing things, these Ironsides of yours. Amazing. You must be very proud of them."

Bracewell smiled. "Just doing my bit."

Amy picked up a scanner from the table. "Not bad for a Paisley boy."

"Yes, I thought I detected a familiar cadence, my dear."

Adelaide leaned forward on the balls of her feet. "How did you come up with the idea?"

Bracewell shrugged. "How does the muse of invention come to anyone?"

"But you've had a lot of these ideas, haven't you?"

"Well, ideas just seem to teem from my head. Wonderful things, like…let me show you!" he gestured for them to follow him to a collection of his files. "Some musings on the potential of hypersonic flight. Gravity bubbles that can sustain life outside the terrestrial atmosphere. Came to me in the bath!"

"And are these your ideas or theirs?"

Bracewell shook his head, chuckling slightly. "Oh, no, no, no. These robots are entirely under my control. They are…" the Dalek brought him his tea "thank you. The perfect servant, and the perfect warrior."

"I don't know what you're up to, Professor, but whatever they've promised, you cannot trust them. Call them what you like, the Daleks are death!"

"Yes, Doctor," Winston entered the room, his Dalek still following him. "Death to our enemies. Death to the forces of darkness, and death to the Third Reich."

The Doctor glared at him. "Yes, Winston, and death to everyone else too!"

"Would you care for some tea?" a Dalek asked him.

The Doctor just shoved the tray to the ground. "Stop this! What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"We seek only to help you."

"To do what?"

"To win the war?"

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "Which war?"

"I do not understand."

"The war with the Nazis, or the war against the rest of the Universe?"

The Doctor nodded. "The war against all life forms that are not Dalek?"

"I do not understand. I am your soldier."

"Oh, yeah?" the Doctor picked up a large spanner from the table. "Okay. Okay, soldier, defend yourself." He started hitting the Dalek. Normally, Adelaide probably would have stopped him, but this was a Dalek.

This was the thing that had forced her to abandon her people, that had forced her to make a choice she'd never wanted to, a choice she never should have had to face.

This was the thing that sequestered emotion until all that was left was hate.

She was a bit more liberal with how she treated them.

At least, now she was. It had taken time to reach this point.

"Doctor, what the devil?"

"You do not require tea?"

The Doctor just hit him again.

"Stop him! Prime Minster, please!"

"Doctor, please, these machines are precious."

"Come on," the Doctor grimaced, hitting the Dalek again. "Fight back! You want to, don't you? You know you do!"

"I must protest!"

"What are you waiting for? Look, you hate me. You want to kill me. Well, go on. Kill me. Kill me!"

Amy stepped forward, reaching for the Doctor, but Adelaide practically shoved the human back. "Doctor, be careful."

"Please desist from striking me," the Dalek said. "I am your soldier."

"You are my enemy!" He punctuated each word with a hit before stepping back. "And I am yours. You are everything I despise. The worst thing in all creation. I've defeated you time and time again. I've defeated you. I sent you back into the Void. I saved the whole of reality from you! I am the Doctor! And you are the Daleks!" With one final kick, he sent the Dalek rolling backward.

"Correct," the Dalek said, and the Time Lords froze. "Review testimony."

The Doctor's voice was transmitted throughout the room. "'I am the Doctor! And you are the Daleks!'"

The Doctor frowned, shaking his head. "Testimony. What are you talking about, testimony?"

"Transmitting testimony now," a second Dalek said.

"Transmit what, where?"

Adelaide's eyes widened and she pulled the Doctor back from the Dalek. "This is what they wanted, Doctor." She hadn't been thinking straight, she should have known.

"Testimony accepted."

Adelaide actually made the Doctor stumble when she pulled him back even quicker. "Get back, all of you!"

"Marines!" Winston called. "Marines, get in here!" two marines ran through the door, but they were exterminated almost instantly.

"Stop it, stop it, please!" Bracewell tried. "What are you doing? You are my Ironsides."

"We are the Daleks!"

"But I created you."

"No." The Dalek shot Bracewell's hand, revealing it to be made of wires and metal. "We created you."

"Victory!" all of the Daleks cheered. "Victory! Victory!" they teleported out.

Amy looked between the Time Lords and part of her realized that this was actually one of the first times she could remember seeing Adelaide and the Doctor actually touching for an extended period of time. "What just happened?"

"We wanted to know what they wanted, what their plan was. I was their plan!" the Doctor turned and ran out of the room, Adelaide going with him, and back towards the TARDIS. "Testimony accepted. That's what they said. My testimony."

Amy caught up to them. "Don't beat yourself up because you were right." The Doctor worked on unlocking the TARDIS door. "So, what do we do? Is this what we do now? Chase after them?"

The Doctor shook his head. "This is what we do, yeah, and it's dangerous, so you wait here."

"What, so you mean I've got to stay safe down here in the middle of the London Blitz?"

He shrugged. "Safe as it gets around me." The Time Lords ducked into the TARDIS, running up to the TARDIS console. "Come on," the Doctor mumbled, searching for the Dalek ship. "Bingo!" He looked up at Adelaide. "Ready?"

"You have a plan?"

"Half of one."

She shrugged. "Good enough."

They ran out of the TARDIS together, three Daleks turning to face them.

"How about that cuppa now, then?" the Doctor asked them, grinning.

"It is the Doctor!" a gold Dalek said. "Exterminate!"

"Wait, wait, wait. I wouldn't if I were you." The Doctor pulled out something that looked, from the distance, like a button, but Adelaide was almost certain was a Jammy Dodger. "TARDIS self-destruct, and you know what that means. My ship goes, you all go with it."

"You would not use such a device."

"Try me." The first Dalek rolled forward. "Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. No scans. No nothing. One move and I'll destroy us all, you got that? TARDIS bang bang, Daleks boom!" The Dalek moved back. "Good boy."

Adelaide glanced at the control panels. "This ship is rather destroyed."

The Doctor nodded. "When we last met, you were at the end of your rope. Finished."

"One ship survived."

"And you fell back through time, yes. Crippled, dying."

"We picked up a trace. One of the Progenitor devices."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Progenitor? What's that when it's at home?"

"It is our past, and our future."

"Oh? That's deep. That is deep for a Dalek. What does it mean, though?"

"It contains pure Dalek DNA," the gold Dalek said. "Thousands were created. All were lost, save one."

"Why build Bracewell then?" Adelaide asked, and the Daleks turned to her. "Name's Adelaide, hello, nice to meet you again. I'm likely deep in your records."

After all, a Time Lady known as Adelaide had interacted with Daleks before the Time War was a glint in anyone's eye.

If a Dalek could nod, it did. "It was necessary."

The Doctor frowned. "But why?" But then he nodded. "I get it. Oh, I get it. Get it. Oh ho! This is rich. The Progenitor wouldn't recognize you, would it? It saw you as impure. Your DNA is unrecognizable as Dalek."

"A solution was devised."

"Yes, yes, yes. Me. My testimony. So you set a trap. You knew that the Progenitor would recognize me, the Daleks' greatest enemy. It would accept my word. My recognition of you." A Dalek turned to an instrument panel, and the Doctor held out the 'button' again. "No, no, no. What are you doing?"

"Withdraw now, Doctor, or the city dies in flames."

The Doctor scoffed. "Who are you kidding? This ship is a wreck. You don't have the power to destroy London."

"Watch as the humans destroy themselves." The Dalek inserted the sucker into the panel, activating it.

The Daleks were turning on every light in London.

 **A/N: Time for Dalek fun! The Doctor and Adelaide are finally able to put on a unified front, thankfully.**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: The Doctor is very conflicted about his feelings for Adelaide, just as she is about him._

 _lynnada: I try and update every weekend, but sometimes there are things that stop me from being able to post (I'm a college student, and sometimes tests/papers get in the way, sadly). I'm glad to hear that about Adelaide :)_


	6. Old Loves

**Old Loves**

"Turn those lights off now! Turn London off or I swear I will use the TARDIS self-destruct."

"Stalemate, Doctor. Leave us and return to Earth."

The Doctor frowned. "Oh, that's it. That's your great victory? You leave?"

"Extinction is not an option. We shall return to our own time and begin again."

He shook his head. "No, no, no. I won't let you get away this time. I won't!"

There was a soft thrumming sound. "We have succeeded," a Dalek called. "DNA reconstruction is complete. Observe, Doctor and Adelaide, a new Dalek paradigm!"

Five Daleks emerged from the smoke: white, blue, orange, yellow, and red.

"The Progenitor has fulfilled our new destiny!" the Dalek cheered. "Behold, the restoration of the Daleks. The resurrection of the master race!"

"All hail the new Daleks. All hail the new Daleks."

"Yes," the white Dalek said, it's voice somehow even darker than the normal ones, though Adelaide didn't quite understand how that could be possible. "You are inferior."

"Yes."

"Then prepare."

"We are ready!"

"Cleanse the unclean. Total obliteration. Disintegrate." The five new Daleks destroyed the three older ones.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Blimey. What do you do to the ones who mess up?"

The white Dalek turned to him. "You are the Doctor. You must be exterminated."

The Doctor just held out the Jammy Dodger again. "Don't mess with me, sweetheart."

"We are the paradigm of a new Dalek race," the white Dalek said. "Scientist, Strategist, Drone, Eternal, and the Supreme."

Adelaide nodded at the white. "And that last one is you then?" She gave a little wave. "Adelaide, by the way, fellow enemy of the Daleks, just in case you were wondering."

"You know, nice paint job," the Doctor commented. "I'd be feeling pretty swish if I looked like you. Pretty supreme. Question is, what do we do now? Either you turn off your clever machine or I'll blow you and your new paradigm into eternity."

"And yourself."

He shrugged. "Occupational hazard."

"Scan reveals nothing," the blue Dalek called. "TARDIS self-destruct device non-existent."

The Doctor sighed, taking a bite out of the Jammy Dodger. "All right, it's a Jammy Dodger, but I was promised tea!"

Another siren sounded and the blue Dalek rolled up to the scanner. "Alert. Unidentified projectile approaching. Correction, multiple projectiles."

"What have the humans done?" the white Dalek asked them.

The Doctor just grinned. "I don't know."

"Explain! Explain! Explain!"

"Danny Boy to the Doctor!" a voice came over the speaker. "Danny Boy to the Doctor. Are you receiving me? Over."

"Oh ho!" the Doctor cheered, finally pulling up the proper screen on the scanner next to them. "Winston, you beauty!"

"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Come in. Over."

"Loud and clear, Danny Boy," the Doctor called. "Big dish, side of the ship. Blow it up. Over."

"Exterminate the Doctor and Adelaide!" the white Dalek called.

The Time Lords just ran for the TARDIS as the Dalek's opened fire, laughing once they closed the doors. They may have just been facing down Daleks but…the humans were using planes encased in gravity bubbles to fight the Daleks!

"Danny Boy to the Doctor," the man called from the TARDIS radio. "Only me left now. Anything you can do, sir? Over."

The Doctor and Adelaide looked at each other before moving to either side of the TARDIS console. "The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over."

"Good show, Doctor. Go to it. Over." They pressed a few more buttons, listening through the radio. "Danny Boy to the Doctor. Going in for another attack."

The Doctor grinned. "The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship. Over."

"What about you, Doctor?"

"I'll be okay."

Suddenly, the white Dalek appeared on the screen and the Time Lords paused side-by-side, arms touching. "Doctor and Adelaide, call off your attack."

"Ah ha. What, and let you scuttle off back to the future? No fear. This is the end for you. The final end."

"Call off the attack, or we will destroy the Earth." Adelaide's eyes widened. No…they couldn't have.

The Doctor laughed. "We're not stupid, mate. You've just played your last card."

"Bracewell is a bomb."

"You're bluffing." The Doctor shook his head. "Deception's second nature to you. There isn't a sincere bone in your body." He paused. "There isn't a bone in your body."

"His power is derived from an Oblivion Continuum! Call off your attack, or we will detonate the android."

The Doctor clenched the edge of the console. "No. This is my best chance ever. The last of the Daleks. I can rid the universe of you, once and for all."

"Then do it. But we will shatter the planet below. The earth will die screaming!"

"Yeah, and if I let you go, you'll be stronger than ever. A new race of Daleks."

"Then choose, Doctor." Even the Dalek understood that this was more the Doctor's choice then Adelaide's. "Destroy the Daleks or save Earth. Begin countdown of Oblivion Continuum. Choose, Doctor! Choose! Choose!"

Adelaide watched the Doctor's expression. They both knew that no matter what they did, the Daleks would still activate the bomb inside Bracewell. They were Daleks, it's what they did. But if the Doctor destroying the Daleks…he'd be choosing them over Earth. He'd have to live with that fact.

Adelaide tried to favor logic over anything else, but it was difficult when they were dealing with Daleks.

It was difficult when you had to choose between a planet and Daleks.

"The Doctor to Danny Boy," he said quietly. "The Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw."

"Say again, sir. Over."

"Withdraw. Return to Earth. Over and out."

"But sir…"

"There's no time. You have to return to Earth. Over." The Doctor returned the TARDIS to the supply room and the Time Lords didn't wait a moment before running back to the Map room so that the Doctor could punch Bracewell squarely on the jaw.

"Doctor!" Amy cried.

"Ow!" the Doctor shook out his hand. "Sorry, Professor, you're a bomb. An inconceivably massive Dalek bomb."

"What?"

"There's an Oblivion Continuum inside you," Adelaide told him. "A captured wormhole that provides perpetual power."

"Detonate that, and the earth will bleed through into another dimension." He squatted beside Bracewell. "Now keep down." He soniced the man's chest, opening it to reveal the metal chest beneath and the circular pad in the center. It was separated into five sections, all glowing blue, but one was starting to turn yellow.

"Well?" Amy asked them.

"I don't know, I don't know." The Doctor shook his head before looking up at Adelaide. "Ideas?"

"I've never actually seen one in person," she shrugged. Heard about it, yes, of course she had, most Time Lords had, but never interacted with one.

"So what, they've wired him up to detonate?"

"Oh no, not wired him up. He is a bomb. Walking, talking, pow, exploding, the moment that flashes red." He pointed at the circular panel.

"There's a blue wire or something you have to cut, isn't there? there's always a blue wire. Or a red one."

Adelaide knelt down beside Bracewell. "You're not helping."

Winston shook his head. "It's incredible. He talked to us about his memories. The Great War."

"Someone else's stolen thoughts, implanted in a positronic brain."

Adelaide knew that, technically, what Bracewell was experiencing was nothing like she herself had. Her memories while human had all been falsely created by her TARDIS to help her blend in. But there was a bit of a basis in fact. She had actually stood in a graveyard, looking down at the gravestones of Katheryn and Ryan Attwater, who had actually recently died in a car crash. They had just never had a daughter.

But she knew that the false memories could be real. They could seem so real, impossibly real, so real that they could fool your own programming into thinking they were one hundred percent real.

So real they could make you human. They could make you love.

"Tell us about it, Edwin," she prompted. "Tell us about your life."

Bracewell shook his head. "Adelaide, I really don't think this is the time."

"Prove you're human. Tell us everything." She glanced at the panel and a second one was beginning to turn yellow.

"My parents ran the Post Office. It's a little place just near the abbey, just by the ash trees. There used to be eight trees but there was a storm."

"And your parents?"

"Good people. Kind people. They…they died. Scarlet fever."

The Doctor nodded, leaning closer. "What was that like? How did it feel? How did it make you feel, Edwin? Tell us. Tell us now." Adelaide glanced at the Doctor.

"It hurt," Bracewell gasped. "It hurt, it hurt so badly. It was like a wound. I thought it was worse than a wound. Like I'd been emptied out. There was nothing left."

The panels were still changing.

"Good. Remember it now, Edwin. The ash trees by the Post Office and your mum and dad, and losing them, and men in the trenches you saw die. Remember it. Feel it. You feel it because you're human. You're not like them. You're not like the Daleks."

Bracewell pressed his eyes closed, near tears. "It hurts. It hurts so much."

"Good. Good, good, brilliant! Embrace it. That means you're alive. They cannot explode that bomb because you're a human being. You are flesh and blood. They cannot explode that bomb. Believe it. You are Professor Edwin Bracewell, and you, my friend, are a human being." But it wasn't stopping. "It's not working. I can't stop it."

Adelaide, very gently, pushed the Doctor aside. Sure, hurt and loss made you human, but it had also made the Daleks. But there was one thing the Daleks had never understood, one thing that had persisted throughout Adelaide's time as a human. One that had defined her life then in a way that it never had before. "Have you ever loved someone you know you shouldn't?"

Bracewell turned to her with a frown, and the last panel paused. "What?"

"Ever loved someone that you knew you shouldn't, but you just kept loving them anyway? Even though everyone around you was telling you to run?" She smiled. "And whenever they would touch your hand, the whole world, the whole universe, would fade because all you could focus on was them?"

Bracewell's face morphed into a small smile, the last section almost completely powering off. "I really shouldn't talk about her."

Adelaide nodded. "What was her name?"

"Dorabella."

"That's a lovely name, a beautiful name. Tell me about her."

The third panel powered down. "Oh, such a smile. And her eyes…her eyes were so blue…almost violet, like the last touch of sunset on the edge of the world." He sighed. "Dorabella."

All of the segments powered down. "Welcome to the human race." She couldn't help the tightness in her voice.

The Doctor cheered, pointing to Winston. "You're brilliant." To Bracewell. "You're brilliant." To Amy. "You're brilliant." And then he looked to Adelaide. "And you…"

"I spent years as a human, Doctor," she reminded him, hating to do it but knowing it was the truth. "I remember the strongest emotion of that entire time."

The Doctor remembered what she had told him with the Star Whale. And how he would always, without meaning to, take Caroline's hand and not realize it, even though it was making his blood race. The Doctor remembered their first kiss after their second experience being trapped on a bus and the way the universe had seemed right, even though he knew that he couldn't love Caroline because he would just end up hurting her.

He didn't say anything, but Adelaide nodded. "The Daleks," she reminded him quietly, and the Doctor sprung to his feet.

"Wait, Doctor," Bracewell said, pushing himself up beside Adelaide and reaching out a hand to stop the Doctor. "Wait, wait. It's too late. Gone. They've gone."

"No, no! They can't! They can't have got away from me again."

Adelaide stood. "You knew that would happen, Doctor," she reminded him. "When you picked earth, you knew the Daleks were going to go."

"They knew I'd choose the earth. The Daleks have won. They beat me. They've won."

Amy chuckled. "But you saved the Earth. Not too shabby, is it?"

The Doctor allowed himself a small chuckle. "No, it's not too shabby."

"It's a brilliant achievement, my dear friend," Winston said. "Here, have a cigar."

The Doctor shook his head, walking off with Adelaide.

|C-S|

The Doctor and Adelaide didn't discuss what she had essentially confessed while helping stop the Bracewell bomb. They needed to, they really did, especially now, but they both found it rather difficult to actually look at each other. It didn't help that they'd already been having that difficulty.

Despite being the last two Time Lords left in the universe, they still found it difficult to really talk to each other casually.

The pair of them, about a foot apart from each other, walked into the map room just as Winston frowned, looking around, and clearly looking for them. "Where are Adelaide and the Doctor?"

"Tying up loose ends," the Doctor called. "We've taken out all the alien tech Bracewell put in."

"Won't you reconsider? Those spitfires would win me the war in twenty hours!"

"Exactly." The Doctor picked up a tea cup and took a sip…only to spit it right back out.

"But why not? Why can't we put an end to all this misery?"

Adelaide gave him a sad smile. "It doesn't work like that. But it will be tough; there are terrible days to come. The darkest days. But you can do it."

"Stay with us, and help us win though. The world needs you."

The Doctor waved him off. "The world doesn't need us."

"No?"

"The world's got Winston Spencer Churchill!" the Doctor made the Victory sign again, making Winston chuckle.

"It's been a pleasure, as always."

"Too right."

"Goodbye, Doctor."

"Oh, shall we say adieu?" The two men hugged, both Adelaide and Amy noticing when Winston slipped his hand into the Doctor's pocket before they stepped apart.

"Indeed." Winston turned to Adelaide. "Good to meet you, Adelaide." And then to Amy. "Goodbye, Miss Pond."

"It's…it's been amazing, meeting you." Amy grinned widely.

Winston chuckled. "I'm sure it was!" Amy stepped forward and kissed Winston's cheek before letting him step back towards the door.

Amy didn't let him get far. "Oi, Churchill!" she held out her hand. "TARDIS key. The one you just took from the Doctor."

Winston chuckled as the Doctor looked slightly panicked, handing Amy the key. "Oh, she's good, Doctor. As sharp as a pin. Almost as sharp as me." He lit the cigar with a wink. "KBO!"

Once they were alone again, Amy returned the key to the Doctor, reminding Adelaide that the Doctor had taken Caroline's key right before he'd left her behind on Earth, pulling much the same trick as Winston, actually.

If she was going to continue to travel with him, she really did need to ask him for a key of her own.

|C-S|

Bracewell turned when the Doctor, Adelaide, and Amy entered the laboratory. His face was stern, and she knew instantly what he believed should happen. What really should happen, but Daleks were involved and Adelaide wasn't as logical as normal.

"I've been expecting you, Doctor, Adelaide. I knew this moment hat to come."

The Doctor frowned. "Moment?"

"It's time to de-activate me."

The Doctor glanced at Adelaide. "Is it? Oh. Er…yeah."

"You have no choice. I'm Dalek technology. Can't allow me to go pottering around down here where I have no business."

"No, you're dead right, Professor. A hundred percent right. And by the time we get back here in what…ten minutes?"

Amy shrugged. "More like fifteen." Adelaide just laughed at him.

"Fifteen minutes, yeah, that's exactly what we're going to do," the Doctor nodded as he spoke. "You are going to be so de-activated. It's going to be like you've never even been activated."

Adelaide nodded. "Most definitely."

Bracewell frowned. "Fifteen minutes?"

"More like twenty, if I'm honest. Once Adelaide, Pond, and I see to the urgent thing we've got to see to. The…the…see?"

Bracewell nodded, taking a deep breath. "Very well, Doctor. I shall wait here and prepare myself."

Amy sighed. "That Dalek tech a bit slow on the uptake," she mumbled. "That thing we've got to do, going to take half an hour, realistically, isn't it, Doctor?"

"Easily. So no running off, that's what I'm saying."

Adelaide smiled. "Don't go trying to find that Post Office with the ash trees or Dorabella."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, on no account go looking for her. Mind you, you can get a lot done in half an hour."

Adelaide laughed again when Bracewell finally caught on with what they were trying to tell him. "Thank you, thank you!"

The Doctor grinned, backing out of the room. "Come along, Pond."

The trio of time travelers returned to where they had stored the TARDIS. "So, you have enemies then?" Amy commented.

The Doctor shrugged. "Everyone's got enemies."

"Yeah, but mine's the woman outside Budgens with the mental Jack Russell. You've got, like, you know, arch-enemies."

They leaned against the side of the TARDIS. "Suppose so."

"And here's me thinking we'd just be running through time, being daft and fixing stuff. But no, it's dangerous."

Adelaide nodded. "Very dangerous. Got a problem?"

Amy smiled. "I'm still here, aren't I?" Then her face fell, eyeing the Time Lords. "You're worried about the Daleks."

"I'm always worried about the Daleks."

"It'll take time, though, won't it? I mean, there's still not many of them. They'll need a while to build themselves up."

The Time Lords frowned at Amy. "It's not that. There's something else. Something we've forgotten."

"Or rather you have."

Amy looked surprised. "Me?"

"You didn't know them, Amy. You'd never seen them before."

Adelaide nodded. "And you should have."

The Doctor turned and opened the TARDIS door, stepping aside to let Adelaide enter first.

 **A/N: Adelaide confessed that Caroline loved the Doctor! But does she feel the same now...we shall have to wait and see.**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _AxidentlGoddess: Adelaide is similar to Caroline in that way; the Doctor will begin to notice the distinct similarities between the two soon (the next episode, in fact). The Time Lords really need to, especially after this episode ;)_


	7. Shared Interests

**Shared Interests**

For once, Adelaide and the Doctor were almost equally as excited about where they had landed. It was a bit shocking for Amy, who had begun to see Adelaide as a bit more serious version of the Doctor, to see the two Time Lords running around the museum.

Though while the Doctor was pointing out everything that was wrong with the exhibits, Adelaide was just generally more excited about the concept of being in a museum.

The Doctor pointed at a random object while Adelaide studied something across from him. "Wrong." He pointed to something else. "Wrong." And another thing. "Bit right, mostly wrong." He grinned, turning in a circle. "I love museums!"

Adelaide grinned widely. "They're wonderful."

Amy nodded, following them. "Yeah, great. Can we go to a planet now? Big space ship, Churchill's bunker? You promised me a planet next."

The Doctor paused. "Amy, this isn't any old asteroid. It's the Delerium Archive, the final resting place of the headless monks. The biggest museum ever."

Amy frowned. "You've got a time machine. What do you need museums for?"

"Wrong!" the Doctor pointed at another display. "Very wrong." He ran to something in the center of the room. "Ooo, one of mine. Also one of mine."

"Oh, I see. It's how you keep score."

Adelaide paused at the box she'd reached, her eyes widening. "Doctor…" he glanced at her with a smile, but it fell when he saw exactly what was on the box.

"Oh great," Amy sighed, "an old box."

"It's a Home Box from an old starliner," Adelaide said quietly.

"What's a Home Box?"

"Like a black box on a plane, except it homes. Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home with all the flight data."

"So?"

"That's Old High Gallifreyan," Adelaide nodded to it. "The lost language of the Time Lords."

"There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple gods."

Amy looked a bit more excited now. "What does it say?"

The Doctor looked up at Adelaide. "'Hello, sweetie'." He only waited a moment before sonicing the glass, letting Adelaide lift out the box before both of them ran back through the museum to where they'd left the TARDIS, somehow managing to avoid getting caught by any of the guards.

The Doctor worked on setting the TARDIS off while Adelaide attached the box to the console.

"Why are we doing this?" Amy asked them.

"Because someone on a spaceship twelve thousand years ago is trying to attract our attention." As the Doctor spoke, Adelaide stepped back after attaching the final wire. "Let's see if we can get the security playback working."

The scanner began to display a black and white image. A younger River Song winked at them before the image switched so that her back was to them. The Doctor watched River carefully, remembering how she'd reacted in the Library, knowing that River had known them in their future, and known that they traveled together for a while.

"The party's over, Dr. Song…" a man said. "Yet still you're on board."

"Sorry, Alistair. I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination."

"Wait till she runs," the man said to his side, likely to guards that those in the TARDIS couldn't see. "Don't make it look like an execution."

River looked down at her watch. "Triple-seven, five, slash, three, four, nine by ten. Zero, twelve, slash, acorn. Oh, and I could do with an air corridor."

The Doctor stepped to the side, inputting the coordinates.

"What was that?" Amy asked, watching him. "What did she say?"

Adelaide nodded, still watching River. "Coordinates."

"Like I said on the dance floor," River said, "you might want to find something to hang on to." There was an explosion and the door blasted off the ship, sending River out into space.

However, the Doctor was already running to the door, managing to get it open just as River fell inside, falling on top of him.

"Doctor?" Amy called, just seeing him topple over.

"River?" he helped River stand, but the woman just turned and pointed out the door.

"Follow that ship!"

Adelaide nodded. "We shall endeavor to try."

River and the Doctor ran up to the console, River hanging her red heels from a monitor. "They've gone into warp drive. We're losing them! Stay close!"

"We're trying!" the Doctor called.

"Use the stabilizers."

"There aren't any stabilizers!"

"The blue switches." River nodded to some near the Doctor.

He frowned. "Oh, the blue ones don't do anything, they're just blue."

"Yes, they're blue." River pulled her way over to them. "Look, they're the blue stabilizers." She pressed them and the TARDIS actually became still for once, reminding Adelaide more of her own normal TARDIS flights. "See?"

The Doctor grimaced. "Yeah. Well, it's just boring now, isn't it? They're boring-ers. They're blue boring-ers."

"Doctor, how come she can fly the TARDIS?"

He sunk back into the jump seat, arms crossed. "You call that flying the TARDIS? Ha!"

Adelaide actually found it quite a bit easier to pilot the TARDIS when it wasn't jerking her all over the place, especially with the assistance of River, who didn't seem dedicated to making each flight more dangerous than the last. Adelaide loved danger, but she had been worrying how much of her piloting she'd forgotten given how terrible she had seemed to be at piloting the Doctor's TARDIS.

Nice to know that she still had it.

Especially since she had actually passed the test and gotten her TARDIS legally.

Unlike another last Time Lord.

"Okay," River said, interrupting the Doctor's pouting. "I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right alongside."

The Doctor frowned. "Parked us? We haven't landed."

"Of course we've landed. I just landed her."

He leapt from the seat. "But…it didn't make the noise."

"What noise?"

"You know, the…" he did a rather bad imitation of the wheezing noise his TARDIS tended to make.

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "TARDISes aren't supposed to make that noise."

River nodded. "You leave the breaks on."

"Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise. I love that noise." He turned to Amy, walking backward to the door. "Come along, Pond. Let's have a look."

River held up a hand. "No, wait! Environment checks."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, sorry. Quite right. Environment checks." He opened the TARDIS door and stuck his head outside. "Nice out."

River ignored him. "We're somewhere in the Garn Belt. There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest that…"

"We're on Alfava Metraxis," the Doctor cut in, "the seventh planet of the Dundra System. Oxygen rich atmosphere, all toxins in the soft band, eleven hour day and chances of rain later."

River shook her head. "He thinks he's so hot when he does that." Adelaide noticed when River glanced at her, about to say something, but catching herself.

"How come you can fly the TARDIS?" Amy asked River.

"Oh, I had lessons from the very best."

The Doctor smiled smugly. "Well, yeah."

"It's a shame you were busy that day." He pouted and River picked up her shoes again. "Right then, why did they land here?"

Adelaide shook her head. "They didn't land."

"Sorry?"

"You should have checked the Home Box. It crashed."

River, frowning, stepped outside of the TARDIS and the Doctor shut the doors behind her, running back up to join Adelaide at the console.

"Explain," Amy said to them. "Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?"

"It's a long story and I don't know most of it. Off we go!"

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving. She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go."

Amy frowned, crossing her arms. "Are you basically running away?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yep."

"Why?"

"Because she's the future. Our future." The last time, River had continuously accidently let it slip that the Doctor and Caroline would travel together in the future. What they hadn't understood then was that River had, obviously, only known Time Lady Adelaide and then, at the Library, seeing a human Caroline…it must have been jarring. But if she'd nearly spoiled things then, there was no telling what she would accidently do now.

"Can you run away from that?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I can run away from anything I like. Time is not the boss of me." He froze, his words sinking in, and he looked up at Adelaide, who was shaking her head where Amy couldn't see.

They may be the last two Time Lords, but they still had to respect certain rules their people had set in order to keep the universe from imploding.

Technically, meeting someone from your future wasn't destructive to the time streams, it just made everything a bit confusing.

Amy paused, realizing something. "Hang on, is that a planet out there?"

"Yes, of course it's a planet."

"You promised me a planet. Five minutes?"

The Doctor sighed. "Okay, five minutes."

"Yes!" Amy ran for the doors.

The Doctor was nearly grimacing as he followed the human, making Adelaide laugh. "But that's all, because I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything."

They had landed on a beach. The ship they had been following appeared to have crashed into a large stone structure, with debris scattered around and a few fires.

"What caused it to crash?" River asked once they approached. "Not me."

"Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it."

"The warp engines had a phase-shift. No survivors."

"A phase-shift would have to be sabotage." River sighed. "I did warn them."

"About what?"

"Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries." River pulled out a device from her purse.

Amy looked between all of them. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Amy Pond, Professor River Song."

River smirked. "Ah, I'm going to be a professor someday, am I? How exciting! Spoilers."

"Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that?" Amy whispered. "She just left you a note in a museum."

"Two things are guaranteed to show up in a museum. The Home Box of a category four star liner and, sooner or later, them. She just enjoys it and it's how he keeps score."

Amy nodded, laughing. "I know."

"It's hilarious, isn't it?"

"I'm nobody's taxi service!" the Doctor, who'd been pacing away a bit, stalked back over. "I'm not going to be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a spaceship."

River just smiled. "And you are so wrong." She glanced back at the crashed ship. "There's one survivor. There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die." When she looked back, the Doctor, and Adelaide, were looking quite a bit more interested. "Now he's listening." She lifted her device, speaking into it. "You lot in orbit yet? Yeah, I saw it land. I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal." She walked off a bit and held up the device, only to turn back around. "Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon." He did so with a slight grimace, and River dropped into a curtsey."

Amy laughed. "Ooo, Doctor, you soniced her."

"We have a minute. Shall we?" River called, motioning them to join her as she pulled out her diary. "Where are we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?"

"What's the book?"

The Doctor eyed it. "Stay away from it."

"What is it though?"

"Her diary."

"Our diary," River corrected.

"Her past, our future," the Doctor nodded to him and Adelaide. "Time travel. We keep meeting in the wrong order."

Four small columns of swirling dust appeared on the beach behind them, four soldiers within them. One of the men approached River. "You promised me an army, Dr. Song."

"No, I promised you the equivalent of an army. This is the Doctor and Adelaide."

The man turned to them, reaching out to shake their hands. "Father Octavian, Sir, Ma'am. Bishop, second class. Twenty clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Dr. Song was helping us with a covert investigation. Has Dr. Song explained what we're dealing with?"

"Doctor, Adelaide, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?"

Caroline had never encountered then and neither had Adelaide. But she'd heard stories, all Time Lords had.

She knew the danger the Weeping Angels would mean.

|C-S|

Night had fallen in the time it took for those who arrived in the transport ship to set up camp. Octavian led the time travelers across the set-up as he explained everything they knew at that point. "The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralize it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drives. According to this…" he held up a device that looked like River's, "behind the cliff face there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up."

The Doctor nodded. "Oh, good."

"Good, sir?"

"Dark catacombs," Adelaide said, and the Doctor was shocked at how much her voice was shaking. "Love dark catacombs."

"Technically, I think it's called a 'Maze of the Dead'."

Adelaide nodded tensely. "Yeah, you can stop now, thank you." The Doctor surprised both of them by reaching out to take her hand, squeezing it tightly. He'd known Caroline had been afraid of the dark, he remembered how she'd reacted in the Library, but he hadn't known if Adelaide would share that fear.

It appeared she did.

"Father Octavian?" one of the clerics called.

"Excuse me, sir, ma'am." Octavian nodded to both of them before leaving.

Still holding hands, the Doctor and Adelaide moved towards a table of equipment.

"You're letting people call you sir and ma'am," Amy said casually, sitting on the table. "You never do that. So, whatever a Weeping Angel is, it's really bad, yeah?"

"Now that's interesting," the Doctor said, looking up at Amy. "You're still here. Which part of 'wait in the TARDIS till I tell you it's safe' was so confusing?"

Amy laughed. "Ooo, you are all Mr. Grumpy Face today."

"A Weeping Angel, Amy, is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life-form evolution has ever produced, and right now one of them is trapped inside that wreckage and I'm supposed to climb in after it with a screwdriver and a torch, and assuming I survive the radiation long enough and assuming the whole ship doesn't explode in my face, do something incredibly clever which I haven't actually thought of yet. That's my day. That's what I'm up to. Any questions?"

Amy just smirked at him. "Is River Song your wife?" The Doctor looked away and didn't notice when he tightened his grip on Adelaide's hand. "Because she's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I've never seen anyone do that. She's kind of like, you know, 'heel, boy'. She's Mrs. Doctor from the future, isn't she? Is she going to be your wife one day?"

The Doctor actually had to try very hard not to grimace at the thought of marrying River while Adelaide's hand was very firmly grasped in his. This was the second time ever that they'd met River and the first time had been when River had died. They hadn't really gotten a chance to get to know River, but River had obviously known them.

And River had not seemed surprised then to see the Doctor and Caroline holding hands. But she did seem surprised now to see them not. Any time they spotted River watching them, she always looked a bit shocked that they weren't standing closer together.

River was very careful not to reveal anything about their future that she knew she shouldn't. But sometimes reactions slipped through.

She wasn't acting like a woman whose husband was showing at least some romantic interest in another woman.

"Yes, you're right," the Doctor said, nodding. "I am definitely Mr. Grumpy Face today."

"Doctor! Adelaide!" River called from the drop ship.

Amy chuckled. "Oops. Her indoors."

"Father Octavian!"

"Why do they call him Father?" Amy asked as they walked, the Time Lords not actually wanting to let go of each other's hands.

"He's their Bishop, they're his Clerics. It's the fifty-first Century. The Church has moved on."

They walked into the unit the see an image of a Weeping Angel on the monitor, facing away from them. "What do you think?" River asked them. "It's from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault. I ripped it when I was on board. Sorry about the quality. It's four seconds. I've put it on loop."

The Doctor tightened his grip on Adelaide's hand. "Yeah, it's an Angel. Hands covering its face."

"You've encountered the Angels before," Octavian asked him.

He nodded. "Once, on earth, a long time ago. But those were scavengers, barely surviving."

Amy shook her head. "But it's just a statue."

"It's a statue when you see it."

"Where did it come from?"

River shrugged. "Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since. Dormant all that time."

"Difference between dormant and patient," Adelaide commented.

Amy just frowned. "What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?"

"The Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen. So legend has it."

The Doctor shook his head. "No, it's not legend, it's a quantum lock. In the sight of any living creature the Angels literally cease to exist. They're just stone. The ultimate defense mechanism."

"What, being a stone?"

"Being a stone until you turn your back." The Doctor and Adelaide left the shuttle, everyone else following, staring up at the large ship. "The hyperdrive would've split on impact. That whole ship's going to be flooded with drive burn radiation, cracked electrons, gravity storms. Deadly to almost any living thing."

"Deadly to an Angel?" Octavian said hopefully.

"Dinner to an Angel. The longer we leave it there, the stronger it will grow." He frowned. "Who built that temple? Are they still around?"

"The Aplans," Adelaide said, making the Doctor look to her. "I've been here before."

River nodded. "They died out four hundred years ago."

"Two hundred years later, the planet was terraformed," Octavian continued. "Currently there are six billion human colonists."

"Whoo! You lot, you're everywhere. You're like rabbits. I'll never get done saving you."

"If there is a clear and present danger to the local population…"

"Oh, there it is," the Doctor's voice was serious again. "Bad as it gets. Bishop, lock and load!"

Octavian turned to his men. "Verger, how are we doing with those explosives? Dr. Song, with me."

"Two minutes." River followed the Time Lords back to the equipment table. "Sweetie, I need you."

The Doctor frowned. "Sweetie?" Adelaide laughed at him. "Don't laugh!" she just stuck her tongue out at him before pulling him after her towards where River was.

"Anybody need me?" Amy asked as they walked away. "Nobody?" When no one responded, she walked back into the drop ship.

River handed the Doctor a book. "I found this. Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one. Written by a madman. It's barely readable, but I've marked a few passages."

The Doctor riffled through the book quickly. "Not bad. Bit slow in the middle. Didn't you hate his girlfriend?" he paused. "No. No, hang on. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." He sniffed the book.

"Dr. Song?" Amy called from the drop ship. "Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?"

"No, just the four seconds."

"This book is wrong," the Doctor mumbled. "What's wrong with this book? It's wrong."

River shook her head at the Time Lords as Adelaide leaned a bit closer to his side…only to read the book, of course, not to be closer to the Doctor at all. "It's so strange when the two of you go all baby face. How early is this for you?"

"Very early."

"So you don't know who I am yet?"

Adelaide glanced up at her. "Do you have pictures of all our faces?"

She nodded. "You never show up in the right order, though. I need the spotter's guide."

"Pictures," the Doctor muttered. "Why aren't there pictures? This whole book, it's a warning about the Weeping Angels, so why no pictures? Why not show us what to look out for?"

"There was a bit about images." River paused. "What was that?"

"Yes, hang on." The Doctor flipped through the book. "'That which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel."

Adelaide froze.

"What does that mean? 'An image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel.'"

 **A/N: River has returned! I wonder what other things she'll let slip this time ;)**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _AxidentlGoddess: Wow, I honestly didn't make the connection that the Doctor was treating Adelaide like some previous companions have treated him; things like that tend to happen with this story, I've found. I've done a lot of things (Adelaide's name being one of them that shall be discovered a bit later) completely accidentedly. I will say now, the issue of them letting the other one love them will come back to bite them..._

 _flowerangel502: That's a very nice metaphor, and actually very accurate as to how I see Caroline and Adelaide's relationship :)_


	8. Fears in the Dark

**Fears in the Dark**

Adelaide leapt up, leaving the Doctor and River to follow. "Amy!"

"Adelaide!" Amy shouted from the other side of the door.

"What's happening?"

"Adelaide, it's coming out of the television. The Angel is here."

Adelaide began to sonic the lock as the Doctor arrived, taking over speaking to Amy. "Don't take your eyes off it. Keep looking. It can't move if you're looking."

River glanced at her. "What's wrong?"

"Deadlocked."

"There is no deadlock."

"Don't blink, Amy," the Doctor reminded her. "Don't even blink."

"Doctor…"

He leapt to the side, working on a small control box on the side. "What are you doing?"

"Cutting the power. It's using the screen, I'm turning the screen off." He shook his head. "No good, it's deadlocked the whole system."

"There's no deadlock!"

"There is now!"

"Help me!"

"Can you turn it off?"

"Doctor!"

"The screen. Can you turn it off?"

"I tried."

"Try again. But don't take your eyes off the Angel."

"I'm not."

"Each time it moves, it'll move faster. Don't even blink."

River pushed the Doctor and Adelaide to the side, pulling out a blowtorch to try and cut through the door. "I'm not blinking. Have you ever tried not blinking? It just keeps switching back on."

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, it's the Angel."

"But it's just a recording."

"No, anything that takes the image of an Angel is an Angel." He frowned at River. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to cut through. It's not even warm."

Adelaide shook her head. "There is no way in. It's not physically possible."

"Doctor, what's it going to do to me?"

"Just keep looking at it. Don't stop looking."

"Just tell me."

The Doctor ran back and grabbed the book, Adelaide studying the door to try and figure out a way in. "Amy, not the eyes. Look at the Angel but don't look at the eyes."

"Why?"

River glanced at him. "What is it?"

"'The eyes are not the windows of the soul. They are the doors. Beware what may enter there.'"

"Doctor, what did you say?"

"Don't look at the eyes!"

"No, about images. What did you say about images?"

"Whatever holds the image of an Angel, is an Angel," Adelaide said.

"Okay, hold this. One, two, three four."

Just as Amy finished speaking, the door burst open and the trio rushed in. The Time Lords ran to the computer system while River checked on Amy. Amy had managed to pause it exactly on the screen of static from the beginning of the loop.

"I froze it," Amy breathed, sounding out of breath. "There was a sort of blip on the tape and I froze it on the blip. It wasn't the image of an Angel anymore. That was good, yeah? It was, wasn't it? That was pretty good."

River smiled. "That was amazing."

"River, hug Amy," the Doctor called.

"Why?"

"Because we're busy."

Amy laughed. "I'm fine."

"You're brilliant."

"Thanks. Yeah, I kind of creamed it, didn't I?"

River looked to the Time Lords. "So it was here? That was the Angel?"

The Doctor shook his head. "That was a projection of the Angel. It's reaching out, getting a good look at us. It's no longer dormant."

There was an explosion outside and the Time Lords moved to the door, looking out.

"Last one positive," one of the clerics called.

"Doctor, Adelaide! We're through."

The Doctor nodded. "Okay, now it starts." He took Adelaide's hand again, not even thinking about it. And they didn't see River's proud smirk.

|C-S|

The Doctor practically ordered Adelaide to climb down after him so that she wouldn't have to be alone in the large underground space. Not that she would have been alone anyway, since the clerics, and River, had already reached the bottom, but not even River seemed really willing to comfort Adelaide as she descended into the darkness.

The Doctor, however, was perfectly happy to comfort her as she climbed and then the moment she landed.

Adelaide hated to be afraid like that, but she really couldn't help it. The dark…she didn't know why, but she was terrified of it. Not as bad as it had been when she was a human, but it was still rather bad. Terrified of everything hiding in it that you couldn't see. And it didn't matter that she knew it was completely irrational. Just the concept of descending deep into a dark underground tavern was not something she was completely okay with.

But somehow, the Doctor being there made it better. Just knowing he was there, ready to hold her hand even if she was a practical stranger.

"Do we have a gravity globe?" the Doctor asked, taking Adelaide's hand and letting her stay as close as physically possible to him that she wanted and pretended not to notice how much he enjoyed the contact.

"Grav globe," Octavian said to a cleric, and the man handed one to the Doctor.

"Where are we?" Amy asked. "What is this?"

"It's an Aplan Mortarium, sometimes called a Maze of the Dead."

"What's that?"

"Well," the Doctor shrugged, "if you happen to be a creature of living stone…" he stepped a bit away from Adelaide for long enough to kick the grav globe into the air, illuminating the space, "the perfect hiding place."

Octavian sighed. "I guess this makes it a bit trickier."

"A bit, yeah."

"A stone Angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for."

"A needle in a haystack," River said.

"A needle that looks like hay. A hay-like needle of death. A hay-like needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues…" the Doctor frowned. "No, yours was fine."

"Right," Octavian turned to his clerics. "Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection. One question," he turned to the Time Lords. "How do we fight it?"

"We find it and hope." They walked off, Amy following.

They didn't see Octavian take River's arm. "They don't know yet, do they? Who and what you are?"

River shook her head. "It's too early in their time stream."

"Well, make sure she doesn't work it out, or they're not going to help us."

"I won't let you down. Believe you me, I have no intention of going back to prison." River pulled her arm from Octavian and followed the Time Lords and Amy, reaching the human first. "You all right?"

Amy lowered her hand; she'd been staring at it rather intently. "Yeah, I'm fine. So, what's a Maze of the Dead?"

River shrugged. "Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls." She laughed. "Okay, that was fairly bad. Right, give me your arm." She took Amy's arm and pulled out a syringe. "This won't hurt a bit."

"Ow!"

"There, you see, I lied. It's a viro-stabilizer. Stabilizes your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're going to need it when we get up to that ship."

Amy glanced back up at the Time Lords. They were looking at one of the cleric's devices with Adelaide practically glued to his side, both of their torches looking a bit brighter than anyone else's, most likely thanks to their sonics. "So what're they like? In the future, I mean. Because you know them in the future, don't you?"

"Adelaide and the Doctor?" River paused. "Well, Adelaide's Adelaide and the Doctor's the Doctor."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Oh, well, that's very helpful. Mind if I write that down?"

"Yes, we are," River called out, looking pointedly at the Doctor.

He glanced up. "Sorry, what?"

"Talking about you two."

"We weren't listening. Busy."

River didn't deny that; even if the Doctor wasn't also attempting to read the device upside down, something Adelaide wasn't pointing out to him for a very good reason, he was busy attempting to keep Adelaide from being too afraid. "The other way up."

The Doctor turned the device over the right way. "Yeah."

Amy laughed at them. "You're so his wife."

River just shook her head. "Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy. This is the Doctor we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything that simple?"

"Yep."

River smiled. "You're good."

"Then is Adelaide his wife?"

"Not…" River glanced at the Time Lords, "not exactly, no."

"But they're close?"

"They're the last two of their species. They have to be."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "But it's more than that, isn't it?"

"Spoilers."

There was gunfire and the four of them ran back to the main room, only to see it was just one of the clerics firing his weapon at a statue. "Sorry," the cleric said, his voice shaking a bit. "I thought…I thought it looked at me."

"We know what the Angel looks like," Octavian reminded him. "Is that the Angel?"

"No, sir."

"No, sir, it is not. According to the Doctor and Adelaide, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil, so it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of décor."

"What's your name?" the Doctor called over.

"Bob, sir."

"Ah, that's a great name. I love Bob."

"It's a Sacred Name," Octavian explained. "We all have Sacred Names. They're given to us in the service of the Church."

"Sacred Bob. More like Scared Bob now, eh?"

Bob nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Ah, good. Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron." He waited until Bob grinned. "Carry on."

"We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes," Octavian called, turning to Bob. "You stay with Christian and Angelo. Guard the approach."

Amy walked up to the Doctor and Adelaide. "Are you scared?" she was more speaking to Adelaide. The woman looked scared, but Amy had no idea if Time Lords showed scared in the same way humans did.

Adelaide nodded. "Very."

"Of the Angel?"

"Yes, but also the dark." The Doctor squeezed her hand. "Always be afraid of the dark, Amy. You never know what's lurking in it."

"Is that why you like to travel so much then?"

Adelaide let herself have a small smile. "So that I know everything there is to know and there's nothing to worry about? When I was little, that's what I thought. But then I grew up."

Amy smiled. "Oh, you don't want to do that."

Adelaide laughed. "No, I really should have avoided it."

"Time to move out!" Octavian called.

The time travelers and River followed Octavian through the tunnels of the temple. "Isn't there a chance this lot's just going to collapse?" Amy asked, looking around them. "There's a whole ship up there."

"Incredible builders, the Aplans."

Adelaide nodded. "I had dinner with their Chief Architect first time I was here."

The Doctor squeezed her hand. "Two heads are better than one."

Amy frowned. "What, you mean you helped him?"

"No, I mean he had two heads." He shrugged. "I've visited them too. Didn't end up with dinner." Then he paused. "That book, the very end, what did it say?"

"Hang on," River searched through her pack for it.

"Read it to us."

"'What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of Angels.'"

The Doctor nodded as River finished, and they continued.

"Are we there yet?" Amy called. "It's a hell of a climb."

"The Maze is on six levels, representing the ascent of the soul," River explained. "Only two levels to go."

"Lovely species, the Aplans." The Doctor looked at Adelaide. "We should visit them again."

Amy frowned. "I thought they were all dead?"

The Doctor shrugged. "So is Virginia Woolf. I'm on her bowling team. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. Well, that's having two heads, of course. You're never short of a snog with an extra head."

Adelaide looked carefully at the statues around them…there was something wrong here. River could feel it too. "Doctor, Adelaide, there's something…I don't know what it is."

"Yeah, there's something wrong," the Doctor nodded. "Don't know what it is yet, either. Working on it." He chuckled. "Of course, then they started having laws against self-marrying. I mean, what was that about? But that's the Church for you." He glanced at Adelaide. "No offense, Bishop." That got Adelaide to flash him a smile; remembering his manners, good, even if it wouldn't do much good in their current situation.

"Quite a lot taken, if that's all right, Doctor." Octavian led them through a narrow passage lined with statues. "Lowest point in the wreckage is only about fifty feet up from here. That way."

"The Church had a point, if you think about it," Amy commented. "The divorces must have been messy."

The Time Lords paused, looking at the statues again. Oh no.

"What's wrong?"

River understood it too. "Oh my God."

The Doctor nodded. "Exactly."

"How could we have not noticed that?"

"Low-level perception filter, or maybe we're thick."

Octavian glanced back at them. "What's wrong?"

"Nobody move. Everybody stay exactly where they are. Bishop, we're truly sorry. We've made a mistake and we are all in terrible danger."

"What danger?"

"The Aplans," River said.

"The Aplans?"

"They've got two heads," Adelaide finished.

"Yes, I get that. So?"

"Why don't the statues?"

The Doctor pulled Adelaide towards a small alcove away from the statues. It was darker there, true, but they were a bit safer from the Angels for the moment. "Everyone, over here. Just move. Don't ask questions, don't speak." Once everyone was collected, torches pointing outwards, the Doctor nodded. "Okay, I want you all to switch off your torches." Adelaide tensed beside him, but they needed to do this, she knew that.

"Sir?"

"Just do it." Everyone did so, and all Adelaide could do was cling to the Doctor and hope for the best. "Okay. I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment."

"Are you sure about this?"

"No." He switched off his torch for a second and then, when it was back, all of the statues were turned to face them.

"Oh my God. They've moved."

The Doctor pulled Adelaide forward, everyone else following them, until they stood in the center of the passage. "They're Angels. All of them."

River shook her head. "But they can't be."

"Clerics, keep watching them." He and Adelaide backtracked slightly, and the Angels were climbing towards them. "Every single statue in this Maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They're coming after us."

"But there was only one Angel on the ship. Just the one, I swear."

"Could they have been here already?" Amy asked.

"The Aplans," Adelaide asked. "How did they die out?"

"Nobody knows."

The Doctor nodded to the Angels. "We know."

"They don't look like Angels."

"And they're not fast. You said they were fast. They should have had us by now."

The Doctor flashed his light on one of the statues. "Look at them. They're dying, losing their form. They must have been down here for centuries, starving."

"Losing their image?"

"And their image is their power." The Doctor paused, his eyes widening. "Power. Power!"

Amy frowned at him. "Doctor?"

"Don't you see? All that radiation spilling out the drive burn. The crash of the Byzantium wasn't an accident, it was a rescue mission for the Angels. We're in the middle of an army, and it's waking up."

"We need to get out of here fast."

"Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please," Octavian called into the comm. "Any of you, come in."

"It's Bob, sir. Sorry, sir."

"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active."

"I know, sir. Angelo and Christian are dead, sir. The statues killed them, sir."

The Doctor grabbed the comm. "Bob, Sacred Bob, it's me, the Doctor."

"I'm talking to my…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up," the Doctor snapped, stepping a bit away with Adelaide.

"I'm on my way up to you, sir. I'm homing in on your signal."

The Doctor nodded. "Ah, well done, Bob. Scared keeps you fast. Told you, didn't I? Your friends, Bob. What did the Angel do to them?"

"Snapped their necks, sir."

He frowned. "That's odd. That's not how the Angels kill you. They displace you in time. Unless…they needed the bodies for something."

"Bob, did you check their data packs for vital signs?" Octavian called. "We may be able to initiate a rescue plan."

"Oh, don't be an idiot. The Angels don't leave you alive." He turned away from Octavian. "Bob, keep running."

Adelaide leaned closer. "How did you escape, Bob?"

"I didn't escape, ma'am. The Angel killed me, too."

"It snapped your neck."

"Wasn't as painless as I expected, but it was pretty quick, so that was something."

Adelaide frowned. "If you're dead…the Angel is using your body to speak to us."

"The Angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and re-animated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion."

"And if you're on your way up…"

"It's the Angel that's coming, ma'am, yes. No way out."

"Then we get out through the wreckage." Octavian turned to his clerics. "Go! All of you run!"

Amy paused. "Doctor? Adelaide?"

"Yeah, we're coming. Just go!" Amy ran off with River and the clerics. "Called you an idiot," the Doctor said to Octavian. "Sorry, but there's no way we could have rescued your men."

"I know that, sir. And when you've flown away in your little blue box, I'll explain that to their families." The man stormed off, leaving Adelaide to not like him that much; he didn't appreciate manners much, did he? It took the Doctor time to apologize, but he did. That counted for something.

"Angel Bob," the Doctor said. "Which Angel are we talking to? The one from the ship?"

"Yes, sir. And the other Angels are still restoring."

"Ah, so the Angel is not in the wreckage. Thank you!" the Time Lords ran through the passage, pausing when they nearly ran straight into Amy, the human just standing there staring at her hand. "Don't wait for us. Go, run."

"I can't! No, really, I can't."

'Why not?"

"Look at it." Amy nodded to her hand. "Look at my hand. It's stone."

To the Time Lords, it looked like a normal hand. But there was something terribly wrong with Amy. "You looked into the eyes of an Angel, didn't you?"

"I couldn't stop myself. I tried."

The Doctor took Amy's arm, leaving Adelaide to watch the passage they'd just run down. "Listen to me. It's messing with your head. Your hand is not made of stone."

"It is. Look at it!"

"It's in your mind, I promise you. You can move that hand. You can let go."

"I can't, okay? I've tried and I can't. It's stone."

The torches began to flicker. "The Angel is going to come and it's going to turn this light off, and then there's nothing I or Adelaide can do to stop it, so do it. Concentrate. Move your hand!"

"I can't!"

"Then we're all going to die."

Amy shook her head. "You're not going to die."

"They'll kill the lights," Adelaide reminded them.

"You've got to go, both of you. You know you have. You've both got all that stuff with River and that's all got to happen. You know you can't die here."

"Time can be re-written. It doesn't work like that." Amy turned to look at the Angels as Adelaide slowly backed away from them. "Keep your eyes on it. Don't blink."

"Run!"

"You see, I'm not going. I'm not leaving you here."

Adelaide wasn't as morally sound.

"I don't need you to die for me, either of you. Do I look that clingy?"

"You can move your hand."

"It's stone!"

"It's not stone!"

"You've got to go. Those people up there will die without you. If you stay here with me, you'll have as good as killed them."

Adelaide looked down at Amy's hand. She was too far away to do anything by now, but she could still help the Doctor. "Pain receptors!"

His eyes widened. "Amy Pond, you are magnificent, and I'm sorry about this. Because I'm never leaving you." He grabbed her hand and bit down quite a bit harder than Adelaide had been intending, making Amy jump away. "See? Not stone."

"Run!"

Amy just stared at him in shock. "You bit me!"

"Yeah, and you're alive."

"Look, I've got a mark. Look at my hand!"

"Yes, and you're alive, did I mention?" the Doctor pulled Amy after him, towards where Adelaide was leading them.

"Blimey, your teeth! Have you got space teeth?"

The Doctor sighed. "Yeah. Alive. All I'm saying!"

Adelaide was the first one into the large chamber the clerics, Octavian, and River were waiting in.

"Clerics," Octavian was saying, "we're down to four me. Expect incoming."

"It's the Angels," Adelaide explained. "They're draining the power for themselves."

"Which means we won't be able to see them."

"Which means we really should get out of here."

"Two more incoming!"

River turned around. "Any suggestions?"

"The statues are advancing on all sides. We don't have the climbing equipment to reach the _Byzantium_."

River nodded. "There's no way up, no way back, no way out." She turned to the Time Lords. "No pressure, but this is usually when one of you has a really good idea."

"There's always a way out." The lights flickered again and the Time Lords turned to look at each other. They may be almost complete strangers, but even strangers could work together when their lives depended on it. "There's always a way out."

"Doctor?" Bob called. "Can I speak to the Doctor, please?"

He grabbed the comm. "Hello, Angels. What's your problem?"

"Your power will not last must longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, sir."

The Doctor frowned. "Why are you telling me this?"

"There's something the Angels are very keep you should know before the end."

"Which is?"

"I died in fear."

"I'm sorry?"

"You told me my fear would keep me alive, but I died afraid, in pain and alone. You made me trust you, and when it mattered, you let me down."

"What are they doing?" Amy whispered to River, watching the Time Lords hold eye contact.

"They're trying to make him angry."

"I'm sorry, sir. The Angels were very keen for you to know that."

"Well then, the Angels have made their second mistake because I'm not going to let that pass. I'm sorry you're dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier."

"But you're trapped, sir, and about to die."

"Yeah. I'm trapped. And you know what? Speaking of traps, this trap has got a great big mistake in it. A great big, whopping mistake."

"What mistake, sir?"

The Doctor turned to Amy. "Trust me?"

The human nodded. "Yeah."

To River. "Trust me?"

"Always."

The clerics and Octavian. "You lot, trust me?"

"Sir, two more incoming!" one of the clerics announced.

"We have faith, sir."

The Doctor held out a hand. "Then give me your gun. I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do…" he did a small jump in place "jump."

"Jump where?"

Adelaide shook her head. "As high as you possibly can. On his signal."

"What signal?"

"You won't miss it." The Doctor aimed the gun at the roof.

"Sorry, can I ask again?" Bob said. "You mentioned a mistake we made."

The Doctor nodded. "Oh, big mistake. Huge. Didn't anyone tell you there's one thing you never put in a trap? If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap."

"And what would that be, sir?"

"Me."

The Doctor fired the weapon precisely at the gravity globe.

 **A/N: Aw, the Doctor and Adelaide are bonding a bit more. And there are certainly things coming in their future.**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _meowmixkitkat: Thank you for reading it at all! That's actually not what I meant, but that is an interesting theory :)_

 _time-twilight: We'll have to wait and see what Amy does and how the Time Lords react to whatever it is ;)_


	9. Angels in Eyes

**Angels in Eyes**

Everyone struggled to stand once the rather bright light faded. "Up!" the Doctor shouted. "Look up!"

River moved to help Amy stand. "Are you okay?"

"What happened?"

"We jumped."

"Jumped where?"

"Up," the Doctor repeated. "Up, look up!"

"Where are we?"

River grinned. "Exactly where we were."

Amy shook her head. "No we're not."

"Move your feet!" the Doctor soniced a circular hatch on the floor.

"Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain."

He sighed. "Oh, come on, Amy, think."

"The ship crashed with the power still on," Adelaide reminded her. "Which means the artificial gravity is still on."

"One good jump, and up we fell. Shot out the grav globe to give us an updraft, and here we are."

"Doctor, the statues," Octavian said, looking down at the Angels below, and even through the bit of darkness they could see them developing more facial features. "They look more like Angels now."

"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army." The hatch opened just as all the lights around them began to flicker off. "They're taking out the lights. Look at them, look at the Angels. Into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you." He slipped into the hole, Adelaide sliding in the moment after him.

"How?" Amy looked down into the hole. "Doctor!"

"It's just a corridor. The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you. Don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move!" The Doctor hurried to the control panel.

"Okay, men. Go, go, go!" Octavian appeared down beside them. "The Angels. Presumably they can jump up too?"

The hatch shut behind them.

"They're here, now. In the dark, we're finished." A large door further down the corridor began to close. "Run!" They didn't make it.

"This whole place is a death trap."

The Doctor shrugged. "No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end." He turned around to face everyone. "Nobody panic." There was a banging on the hatch they'd entered through. The Angels were attempting to get inside. "Oh, just me then. What's through here?" he pointed back at the closed door.

"Secondary flight deck."

Amy nodded. "Okay, so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?"

"I've thought about that."

"And?"

"And we'll all plunge to our deaths." Amy's eyes widened. "See? I've thought about it."

Adelaide turned to the door. "The security protocols are still live. Impossible to override."

River glanced at her, working on a panel. "How impossible?"

Adelaide shrugged. "Two minutes."

There was a hum as the lights flickered and the hatch opened again. "The hull is breached and the power's failing."

They could see the arm of an Angel.

"Sir!" a cleric shouted. "Incoming."

"Doctor?" River called. "Lights!" The Doctor ran over, sonicing the lights back on just in time to see an Angel making its way inside, only now there were four Angels and the hatch was closed again.

"Clerics, keep watching them."

"And don't look at their eyes," the Doctor said. "Anywhere else. Not the eyes. I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now."

Octavian nodded. "Good work, Doctor."

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "Oh, finally, manners."

The Doctor smiled at her for a moment, nodding. "Yes. Good, good, good. Good in many ways. Good you like it so far."

Amy turned to him. "So far?"

The Doctor turned to Adelaide. "There's only one way to open this door. I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control."

Octavian nodded. "Good. Fine. Do it."

"Including the lights." The Doctor took Adelaide's hand. "All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights."

"How long for?"

He shrugged. "Fraction of a second. Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer."

"Maybe?"

"I'm guessing! We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship. There isn't a manual for this."

"Doctor, we lost the torches," Amy reminded them. "We'll be in total darkness."

"No other way." He turned to Octavian, still holding Adelaide's hand. "Bishop."

"Dr. Song, I've lost good clerics today." Octavian turned to River. "You trust this man?"

"I absolutely trust him."

"He's not some kind of madman then?"

River paused. "I absolutely trust him."

The Time Lords stepped closer to the door panel, using their combined experience of star liners, as Octavian moved closer to River. "I'm taking your word," he spoke under his breath, "because you're the only one who can manage both of them. But that only works as long as they don't know who you are. You cost me any more men, and I might just tell her. Understood?"

River nodded. "Understood."

Octavian stepped back, turning to the Time Lords. "Okay, Doctor. We've got your back."

Adelaide smiled at him. "Thank you, Bishop." And then she gave him a pointed expression, one that made River laugh just to see. "Good to see your manners have returned."

Octavian ignored her, turning to the clerics. "Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shotgun protocol. We don't have bullets to waste."

"Amy," the Doctor moved Amy close to the door, "when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise four turns."

"Ten."

The Doctor frowned. "No, four. Four turns."

"Yeah, four. I heard you."

The Time Lords paused, taking a moment to look at each other before turning back to the panel, Adelaide as close to the Doctor as she could possibly get. It was just because he was comforting, that was all. No other reason. And he was only comforting because he was the only other of her species and that meant their minds were a bit psychically linked so just being near each other calmed them both, even if they weren't fully connected.

There was no other reason, none whatsoever.

Not like Adelaide quite liked touching the Doctor.

Not at all.

"Ready!" the Doctor called, and Adelaide placed her sonic into the control unit.

"On my count, then. God be with us all." Octavian swallowed. "Three, two, one!" the lights went out. "Fire!"

"Turn!" the Doctor said to Amy.

"Doctor, it's opening. It's working!" Amy managed to get the door open enough to let her and River slip through.

"Fall back!" the clerics and Octavian followed suit, the Time Lords being the last two in, just as the door began to close again.

They were in what appeared to be a flight deck, though everything looked rather destroyed. Each Time Lord and River ran to a different control panel as the Angels began to bang on the door again.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted as Octavian ran forwards and attached a device to the door, appearing to stop the Angels from being able to turn the wheel. "What are you doing?"

"Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now."

The Doctor glanced up. "Yeah?"

The wheel turned.

"Dear God!"

"Ah, now you're getting it. You've bought us time though. That's good. We're good with time."

"Doctor!" another door began to spin.

"Seal that door. Seal it now!" One of the clerics ran to do it.

"We're surrounded."

A third door began to spin. "Seal it. Seal that door! Doctor, how long have we got?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Five minutes, max."

"Nine," Amy said."

"Five."

She nodded. "Five. Right. Yeah."

Adelaide frowned at her. "You said nine."

"I didn't."

"We need to find another way out of here," River said, stepping over.

"There isn't one."

"This is a galaxy class ship," Adelaide corrected. "It can go for years between planet-falls. So what do they need?"

River nodded, grinning. "Of course!"

Amy looked between them. "Of course what? What do they need?"

"Can we get in there?" Octavian asked.

The Time Lords turned to the wall behind them. "Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up." The Doctor pressed it before spotting something to the side. "There's clamps. Release the clamps!"

"What's through there?" Amy asked as the Time Lords ran to them, using their sonics. "What do they need?"

"They need to breathe."

The wall slid up to reveal the forest, thankfully.

"But that's…that's a…"

River nodded. "It's an oxygen factory."

"It's a forest."

"Yeah, it's a forest. It's an oxygen factory."

"And if we're lucky, an escape route."

"Eight," Amy said suddenly.

River glanced at her. "What did you say?"

"Nothing."

The Doctor looked to Octavian. "Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there."

"On it!" Octavian stepped into the forest. "Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels."

Amy shook her head. "But trees, on a spaceship."

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, more than trees. Way better than trees." He stepped up to one of the trees, sonicing it. "You're going to love this. Treeborgs." He pulled aside the moss to reveal the circuitry that ran up the trees. "Trees plus technology. Branches become cables become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. This vault is an ecopod running right through the heart of the ship." He laughed. "A forest in a bottle on a spaceship in a maze." He spun, grabbing Adelaide's hand as he did so and not really noticing he'd done it. "Have I impressed you yet, Amy Pond?"

Amy laughed. "Seven."

"Seven?"

"Sorry, what?"

"You said seven."

"No, I didn't."

River nodded. "Yes, you did."

"Doctor!" Octavian called. "There's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck."

Adelaide nodded. "Good, that's where we need to go."

"Plotting a safe path now."

"Quick as you like." Adelaide raised her eyebrows at him. "Thank you!"

"People like it when you thank them," she reminded him quietly.

"Doctor?" Bob called over the comm. "Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir."

The Doctor grabbed it. "Ah. There you are, Angel Bob. How's life?" he grimaced. "Sorry, bad subject."

"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve."

"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?"

"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world, and all the stars and worlds beyond."

The Doctor sat in one of the chairs, leaving Adelaide next to River. "Well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?"

"We have no need of comfy chairs."

The Time Lords laughed. "I made him say comfy chairs!"

"Six."

The Doctor stood sternly, walking closer to the forest. "Okay, Bob, enough chat. Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Amy?"

"There is something in her eye."

"What's in her eye?"

"We are."

Amy frowned. "What's he talking about? Doctor, I'm five." She paused, finally seeming to realize what she'd said. "I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine."

River eyed her carefully. "You're counting."

"Counting?"

The Doctor nodded. "You're counting down from ten. You have been for a couple of minutes."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Well, counting down to what?"

"I don't know."

"We shall take her," Bob informed them. "We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space."

The Doctor snorted. "Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much."

"With respect, sir, there is more power on this ship than you yet understand."

There was a horrible, high-pitched screeching noise.

"What's that? Dear God, what is it?"

"They're back."

"It's hard to put in your terms, Dr. Song," Bob said, "but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing."

The Doctor frowned. "Laughing?"

"Because you haven't noticed yet, sir. The Time Lords in the TARDIS haven't noticed."

"Doctor," Adelaide said, looking at the wall behind them. "The crack." The Time Lords ran to it, their fingers hovering just a bit away.

"That's…that's…that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched."

Octavian stepped back. "Okay, enough. We're moving out."

"Agreed." River turned to the Time Lords. "Adelaide? Doctor?"

He waved a hand behind him. "Yeah, fine."

"What are you doing?"

"Right with you, thank you," Adelaide said, both of them using their sonics on the crack. She did quite like having a sonic now. You didn't need to keep guessing what something was, you just knew.

River shook her head. "We're not leaving without you."

"Oh yes, you are." The Doctor glanced over his shoulder. "Bishop?"

"Miss Pond, Dr. Song, now!" River grabbed Amy's arm to force her to follow.

"So, what are you?" the Doctor mumbled at the crack, looking at both their sonics. "Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good." He leaned his ear to the crack.

Adelaide looked behind them. "Don't blink," she whispered and the Doctor turned, grabbing Adelaide's hand as they stared at the Angels that surrounded them.

Carefully, the Time Lords climbed over the controls, trying to escape while still watching the Angels, when one grabbed the back of the Doctor's jacket, Adelaide a bit too far forward for them to grab.

The Time Lords paused, but nothing happened. "Why am I not dead then?" the Doctor mumbled, glancing over his shoulder. The Angels had their arms raised, almost in worship, towards the crack. "Good, and not so good. Oh, this isn't even a little bit good." He glanced at the Angels around them while Adelaide glanced back at the crack Angels. "I mean, is that it? Is that the power that brought you here? That's pure Time Energy. You can't feed on that. That's the power, that's the fire at the end of the universe. I'll tell you something else…" something rumbled. "Never let me talk!"

Adelaide pulled the Doctor forward and away from his jacket, the pair of them running through the forest towards where the clerics, Amy, and River were waiting. Amy was curled on a rock and River was speaking quietly to Octavian, but all of their backs were to the Time Lords.

"…when the Doctor and Adelaide are in the room, your one and only mission is to keep them alive long enough to get everyone else home," River said. "And trust me, it's not easy. For either of them. Now, if they're dead back there, I'll never forgive myself. And if they're alive, I'll never forgive them. And…the two of you are standing right behind me, aren't you?"

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, yeah."

River spun to glare at them. "I hate you."

"You don't." They jumped off the log. "Bishop, the Angels are in the forest."

Octavian turned to a cleric. "We need visual contact on every line of approach."

"How did you get past them?"

He shrugged. "Found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe."

"What was it?" Amy asked.

Adelaide didn't smile. "The end of the universe."

The Doctor bent down closer to Amy and took the med-scanner from River. "Let's have a look, then."

"So, what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing," River said. "You're fine."

"Everything. You're dying."

Adelaide glared at him. "Doctor."

"Yes, you're right. If we lie to her, she'll get all better."

"There are better ways to tell someone they're dying." She pointed down at Amy, who was crying.

The Doctor paused. "Right. Amy, Amy, Amy. What's the matter with Amelia? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?"

"Doctor…"

"Busy."

"Scared!"

"Course you're scared, you're dying. Shut up."

"Manners."

River sighed, moving next to Amy. "Okay, let him think."

"What happened?" the Doctor began to pace. "She stared at the Angel. She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long."

"Sir!" a cleric called. "Angel incoming!" An Angel appeared behind a tree.

"And here!" a second shouted.

"Keep visual contact. Do not let it move!"

"Come on, come on, come on," the Doctor hit the side of his head. "Wakey, wakey. She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and…and…"

Adelaide nodded. "The image of an Angel is an Angel."

"A living mental image in a living human mind. But if we stare at them to stop them getting closer…we don't even blink, and that's exactly what they want. Because as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an Angel in her mind."

"Three," Amy said. "It's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die."

He held a hand towards her. "Please just shut up. We're thinking. Now, counting. What's that about?" The Doctor grabbed the comm.. "Bob, why are they making her count?"

"To make her afraid, sir."

"Okay, but why? What for?"

"For fun, sir."

The Doctor threw the comm. away.

"Doctor, what's happening to me?" Amy watched him move away a bit. "Explain!"

Adelaide was the one who turned to her. "You have an Angel trapped inside the vision centers of your brain. Like another screen that the Angel is climbing out of. And it wants to turn you off."

"Then what do I do?"

Adelaide shrugged. "If it were a real screen again, like before, we'd kill the power."

The Doctor shook his head. "But we can't just knock her out, the Angel would just take over."

"Then what?" River asked them. "Quickly."

"We need to shut down the vision centers of her brain."

"She's got seconds."

Adelaide spun to face Amy. "Amy, close your eyes, now."

Amy shook her head. "No. No, I don't want to."

"That's not you, that's the Angel, because it's afraid, so you need to do it. You need to close your eyes."

Amy did so and the scanner beeped, everything returning to normal. "She's normalizing," River breathed. "You did it! You did it!" The Doctor said nothing, just looked at Adelaide in slight shock.

"Sir?" a cleric called. "Two more incoming."

"Three more over here."

River helped Amy adjust herself. "Still weak. Dangerous to move her."

"So, can I open my eyes now?"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, looking at Adelaide desperately before looking down to Amy. "Amy, listen to me. If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die. The Angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of paused it. You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes."

"Doctor, Adelaide, we're too exposed here," Octavian called. "We have to move on."

"We're too exposed everywhere."

"Amy can't move," Adelaide reminded him.

The Doctor nodded. "And anyway, that's not the plan."

River raised an eyebrow at him. "There's a plan."

"I don't know yet. I haven't finished talking." He spun. "Right! Father, you and your clerics, you're going to stay here, look after Amy. If anything happens to her, Adelaide and I will hold every single one of you personally responsible, twice. River, you and me and Adelaide, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is…" he licked a finger and held it up.

Adelaide pointed in the proper direction, interrupting the Doctor. "A quarter of a mile straight ahead."

He nodded. "And from there we're going to stabilize the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy."

"How?"

"I'll do a thing."

River raised an eyebrow. "What thing?"

"I don't know. It's a thing in progress. Respect the thing! Moving out!"

Octavian stepped forward. "Doctor, I'm coming with you. My clerics'll look after Miss Pond. These are my best men. They'd lay down their lives in her protection."

The Doctor grimaced at him. "We don't need you."

"I don't care. Where Dr. Song goes, I go."

"What? You two engaged or something?"

Octavian nodded. "Yes, in a manner of speaking. Marco, you're in charge till I get back."

Marco nodded. "Sir."

"Doctor?" Amy called. "Adelaide? Please, can't I come with you?"

Octavian shook his head. "You'd slow us down, Miss Pond."

"I don't want to sound selfish, but you'd really speed me up."

"You're safer here," Adelaide reminded her. "There's no way to protect you on the move." She moved to follow Octavian and River, leaving the Doctor and Amy for a moment.

"We'll be back for you soon as we can, I promise."

Amy sighed. "You always say that."

"We always come back." He stepped back. "Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy…later. River, going to need your computer!"

Amy shook her head. "Yeah. Later."

Once Adelaide caught up with River, she took the computer to begin putting in her readings of the crack. River frowned at her. "What's that?"

"Readings from the crack."

"How can a crack in the wall be the end of the universe?"

Adelaide shrugged. "We don't know yet."

"But here's what I think," the Doctor said, coming up beside Adelaide to read the screen as he spoke. "One day there's going to be a very big bang. So big every moment in history, past and future, will crack."

"Is that possible? How?"

The Doctor paused. "How can you be engaged, in a manner of speaking?"

River shrugged. "Well, sucker for a man in uniform."

"Dr. Song's in my personal custody," Octavian said. "I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she's accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. Just so we understand each other."

Adelaide stared at River. "You were in Stormcage?"

The device beeped. "What? What is that?"

Adelaide held up the screen so that the Doctor could read it better. "The date of the explosion."

"And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?"

The date shifted. 26/06/2010.

"Amy's time."

 **A/N: The Doctor and Adelaide can be quite a team when they let themselves be! :)**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _CatLady101: We'll get more of a hint about what's coming in their future in the next chapter, if you can catch it._


	10. Shared Sentiments

**Shared Sentiments**

The group reached the Primary Flight Deck, but there didn't really seem to be a way inside. Octavian was busy looking, River was standing guard, and the Time Lords were looking at the device again.

"It doesn't open it from here, but it's the Primary Flight Deck. This has got to be a service hatch or something."

"Hurry up and open it. Time's running out."

The Doctor looked up sharply. "What? What did you say? Time's running out, is that what you said?"

"Yeah. I just meant…"

"I know what you meant. Hush!" He glanced at Adelaide. "What if it could?"

"If time could run out?"

Octavian interrupted them. "Got it!"

"Cracks," the Doctor continued, muttering to Adelaide. "Cracks in time. Time running out. No, couldn't be. Couldn't be. But how is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks?"

Adelaide nodded. "And she didn't recognize the Daleks."

"Time can shift. Time can change."

"Time can be rewritten."

"Dr. Song, get through, now," Octavian ordered, helping River through. "Doctor? Adelaide?"

The Time Lords didn't move. "Time can be unwritten."

The Doctor hit his forehead. "It's been happening all around us and I haven't even noticed."

"Doctor, Adelaide, we have to move."

Adelaide nodded. "The Cyberking. No one remembered."

"We have to move it. The Angels could be here any second."

The Doctor waved a hand at the man. "Never mind the Angels. There's worse here than Angels."

The lights flickered and the Time Lords looked up to see an Angel with its arm around Octavian's neck. "I beg to differ, sir, ma'am."

He soniced the Angel. "Let him go."

"Well, it can't let me go, can it? Not while you're looking at it."

Adelaide shook her head. "We can't stop looking at you, it will kill you."

"It's going to kill me anyway. Think it through. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me."

"Can't you wriggle out?"

"No, it's too tight. You have to leave me. There's nothing you can do."

"You're dead if we leave you."

Octavian managed to nod. "Yes. Yes, I'm dead. And before you go…"

"We're not going!"

"Listen to me, it's important. You can't trust her."

Adelaide frowned. "River?"

Octavian nodded again. "You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is."

"Then tell us."

"I've told you more than I should. Now please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends."

"Just tell us why she was in Stormcage."

Octavian swallowed. "She killed someone. Someone strong. A protector of many."

"Who?"

"You don't want to know. You really don't."

"Who did she kill?"

"Sir, ma'am, the Angels are coming. You have to leave me."

"You'll die."

"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that I thank God, and bless the path that takes you to safety."

The Doctor shook his head. "I wish we'd known you better."

"I think you know me at my best."

The Doctor nodded. "Ready?"

"Content." Octavian closed his eyes.

Adelaide grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him through the hatch, up after River. The woman was already working on the control panel. "There's a teleport. If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here." She glanced back. "Where's Octavian?"

"Octavian's dead," the Doctor replied, holding Adelaide's hand tighter. "So is that teleport. You're wasting your time."

"We're going to need your communicator." River handed it to them, and the Doctor soniced it for them. "Amy? Are you there?"

"Adelaide?" Amy said, her voice shaking.

"Where are you? Are the clerics with you?"

"They've gone." The Time Lords looked up at each other. "There was a light and they walked into the light. They didn't even remember each other."

The Doctor shook his head. "No, they wouldn't."

"What is that light?" River called to them.

"Time running out." He rubbed his forehead. "Amy, I'm sorry. We made a mistake. I should never have left you there."

"Well, what do I do now?"

"You have to come to us," Adelaide said. "We're in the Primary Flight Deck."

"I can't see," Amy reminded them. "I can't open my eyes."

The Doctor began to sonic the comm.. "Turn on the spot."

"Sorry, what?"

"Just do it. Turn on the spot. When the communicator sounds like a screwdriver, that means you're facing the right way. Follow the sound. You have to start moving now. There's Time Energy spilling out of that crack, and you have to stay ahead of it."

"But the Angels, they're everywhere."

The Doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you."

"What does the Time Energy do?"

"Just keep moving!"

"Tell me!"

He sighed. "If the Time Energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all." The Doctor paused. "Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving."

River shook her head. "It's never going to work."

"What else have you got! River! Tell me!"

River went quiet, and Adelaide touched the Doctor's shoulder, letting the Time Lord breathe deeply for a moment. "It will work," she told him quietly. "Amy is smart when she tries, and she will be trying now."

Something clanged in the ship. "What's that?"

"The Angels running from the fire. They came here to feed on the Time Energy, and now it's going to feed on them." The Doctor looked back down to the device. "Amy, listen to me. I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll beep if there's something in your way. You just maneuver till the beeping stops. Because, Amy, this is important. The forest is full of Angels. You're going to have to walk like you can see."

"Well, what do you mean?"

"Just keep moving, Amy, you'll be fine," Adelaide said.

"That Time Energy," River said, "what's it going to do?"

Adelaide let the Doctor focus on the communicator. "Keep eating."

"How do we stop it?"

"We feed it."

"Feed it what?"

"A complicated space-time event would keep it quiet."

"Like what, for instance?"

Adelaide looked at the Doctor. "Like him or me."

There was a high pitched beep. "What's that?"

The Doctor stiffened. "It's a warning. There are Angels round you now. Amy, listen to me. this is going to be hard but I know you can do it. The Angels are scared and running, and right now they're not that interested in you. They'll assume you can see them and their instincts will kick in. All you've got to do is walk like you can see. Just don't open your eyes. Walk like you can see." The communicator made no noise. "You're not moving. You have to do this. Now!"

They listened to the communicator beep, changing pitch as Amy maneuvered around the Angels…until there was a thud.

"Doctor?" Amy called, sounding distant. "I can't find the communicator. I dropped it. I can't find it, Doctor."

The Time Lords looked up at River, Adelaide chucking the woman her sonic to make it quicker.

There was a bright light, and then Amy was standing in the room, panicking, but River held her close, keeping her still. "Don't open your eyes. You're on the Flight Deck. The Doctor and Adelaide are here. I teleported you." River looked towards the Time Lords. "See? Told you I could get it working."

"Don't get too cocky," Adelaide warned.

And then there was an alarm. "What's that?"

"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means the shield's going to release." The Time Lords moved to the front just as the shield lifted, revealing the forest and the large number of Angels before them. "Angel Bob, I presume." The Doctor looked towards the Angel holding a communicator.

"The Time Field is coming," Bob said. "It will destroy our reality."

"Yeah, and look at you all, running away. What can we do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if either of you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved."

The Doctor shrugged. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?"

"Your friends will also be saved."

"Well, there is that."

River stepped forward, leaving Amy sitting. "I traveled in time. I'm a complicated space-time event too. Throw me in."

"Oh, be serious," the Doctor scoffed. "Compared to us, these Angels are more complicated than you, and it would take every one of them to amount to either of us, so get a grip."

"I can't let you do this."

The Doctor grinned. "No, seriously, get a grip."

"You're going to die here!"

Adelaide just laughed. "River, Amy, get a grip."

River's eyes widened, finally getting it. "Oh, you genius." She ran to Amy, helping Amy maneuver to a safe place.

"Sir, ma'am, the Angels need one of you to sacrifice yourself now."

"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship. Every last bit of it. And you know what?"

Adelaide smirked. "I think they've forgotten where they're standing."

"They've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or, to put it another way, Angels…" the Time Lords moved back to hang onto something. "Night, night."

As the power failed, gravity turned off and the entire ship turned on its side. They watched as the Angels fell back into the crack. With a final burst of light, it closed.

|C-S|

Amy sat on a rock back outside, a blanket wrapped tightly around her. The Doctor and Adelaide stood next to her, very close to holding hands, but not yet doing it.

Amy grimaced. "Bruised everywhere."

"Us too."

"You didn't have to climb out with your eyes shut."

Adelaide shook her head. "Neither did you. The Angels fell into the Time Field, so the Angel in your memory never existed."

"Then why do I remember it at all? Those guys on the ship didn't remember each other."

"You're a time traveler now, Amy. It changes the way you see the universe, forever." The Doctor didn't look towards Adelaide, even though he couldn't help but think about her because there was a time that was how he had once explained away the oddities of her timeline. That she was a time traveler, so her experiences couldn't be normal. But that was different than this, he knew it was different. "Good, isn't it?"

"And the crack, is that gone too?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening. Somewhere out there, somewhere in time." The Time Lords looked up to see River standing against a rock, her hands handcuffed in front of her. They walked to her.

"You, me, handcuffs. Must it always end this way?"

The Doctor did take Adelaide's hand again, remembering how River had died, what she had sacrificed. "What now?"

"The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see."

"Octavian said you killed someone."

"Yes, I did."

"Someone strong."

River nodded. "The strongest person I've ever known."

"Who?"

She smiled at them. "It's a long story, Doctor, Adelaide. It can't be told, it has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one. You'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens."

"The Pandorica? Ha! That's a fairy tale."

River just laughed as well. "Oh, Doctor, aren't we all? I'll see you there."

"We look forward to it."

"I remember it well."

Amy walked up behind them. "Bye, River."

River nodded at her. "See you, Amy." The handcuffs beeped. "Oh, I think that's my ride."

"Can we trust you, River Song?"

"If you like, but where's the fun in that?" River laughed again before teleporting away in a swirl of sand.

Amy glanced at them. "What are you thinking?"

"Time can be rewritten," the Doctor said, repeating what he'd told River right before she sacrificed herself to save everyone, including Caroline.

River had known. When River sacrificed herself, she had known that she was also saving Adelaide along with everyone trapped inside the Library.

"Not every moment," Adelaide reminded the Doctor. "Some moments must always stay the same." He nodded, remembering the parallel world that had been created around Donna. Remembering fluxed and fixed events.

They turned and walked back to the TARDIS, the Time Lords moving to the console, though the Doctor was the only one who went to actually pilot. Adelaide grabbed the Home Box. "I'm going to put this somewhere safe." She smiled. "Hope you don't mind that I'm going to go exploring in your TARDIS."

The Doctor chuckled. "I've been meaning to do that, so you can give me a tour."

Adelaide nodded and walked off into the TARDIS. Technically, they probably should have returned the stolen Home Box to the museum they'd taken it from, but…it did have Gallifreyan written on it. They couldn't have that sitting around randomly for that much longer.

And besides, breaking into something a second time is notoriously more difficult than breaking in the first time.

Easier just to keep it.

The Doctor also didn't feel compelled to complain about the prospect of just him and Adelaide wandering through the TARDIS.

Amy coughed, and the Doctor looked over at her. The human had been through quite a lot. "Are you all right?"

"I want to go home."

He paused. "Okay."

Amy eyed his expression before standing from her seat. "No, not like that. I just…I just want to show you something. You're running from River. I'm running too."

|C-S|

The Doctor and Amy sat on her bed, staring at the wedding gown hanging from her wardrobe door.

"Well," the Doctor breathed.

"Yeah."

"Blimey."

"I know." Amy glanced at the clock. "This is the same night we left, yeah?"

The Doctor nodded. "We've been gone five minutes."

Amy leaned over and picked up a ring box. "I'm getting married in the morning."

The Doctor looked at it, but he didn't touch it. "Why did you leave it here?"

"Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away the night before my wedding?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

Amy shook her head at him. "You really are an alien, aren't you?"

"Who's the lucky fellow?"

"You met him."

"Ah, the good looking one…or the other one?" he mimed a larger nose.

"The other one."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, he was good too."

"Thanks." Amy paused, looking down at the ring. "So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?"

The Doctor frowned at her. "Why would you need comforting?"

"I nearly died. I was alone in the dark, and I nearly died. And it made me think."

"Well, yes, natural. I think sometimes. Well, lots of times, more often recently."

Amy widened her eyes, leaning a bit closer. "About what I want. About who I want. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah." The Doctor nodded, but then shook his head. "No."

"About who I want," Amy repeated, leaning even closer.

"Oh right, yeah." He paused. "No, still not getting it."

"Doctor. In a word. In one very simple word even you can understand." Amy then proceeded to practically climb on top of him.

The Doctor somehow managed to get over the foot of her bed. "No! You're getting married in the morning!"

"Well, the morning's a long time away." Amy pinned him to the TARDIS, pulling down his braces. "What are we going to do about that?"

The Doctor twisted, trying to escape, but Amy just followed him. "Amy, listen to me. I'm 907 years old. Do you understand what that means?"

"It's been a while?"

"Ye-no, no, no! I'm 907, and look at me. I don't get older, I just change. You get older, I don't, and this can't ever work." The Doctor pressed himself against the back of the TARDIS.

Amy pouted. "Oh, you are sweet, Doctor. But I really wasn't suggesting anything quite so long term." She stopped him from protesting by kissing him quite squarely on the lips.

And it was wrong, so wrong, so horribly wrong. The wrongest kiss ever and not just because Amy was getting married in the morning and that her fiancé had been very helpful last time they'd seen him (though that was quite a large part of it). He just…he really didn't want to kiss Amelia Pond!

"But…you're Amy!" He paused, his gaze landing on the clock and the engagement ring next to it. "You're getting married in the morning…in the morning."

Amy eyed him. "Doctor?"

"It's you. It's all about you. Everything! It's about you!"

Amy tapped his nose, stepping back. "Hold that thought."

"Amy Pond." He grabbed her arm. "Mad, impossible, Amy Pond. I don't know why, I have no idea, but quite possibly the single most important thing in the history of the universe is that I get you sorted out right now."

Amy sighed. "That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"Come on." The Doctor pulled her into the TARDIS while opening it behind his back, pausing for a second to watch Amy's clock tick over to midnight before following Amy inside.

26/06/2010.

The date of the explosion.

Amy leaned against the console of the TARDIS, smirking at him, but all the Doctor did was move around her to get to the controls. She sighed. "Oh typical bloke, straight to fixing his motor."

"But that's just the thing, Amy. I'm not a typical bloke." The Doctor had done an entire round of the console and, thankfully, Adelaide hadn't actually found her way back yet, because he rather wanted to talk with her about this but he really wanted to do it in a better situation.

Amy frowned. "Sorry, did I do something wrong? Cause I'm getting kind of mixed signals here."

"Mixed signals? How?"

"Oh, come on." She followed him as he moved around the console. "You turn up in the middle of the night, get me out of my bed in my nightie which you don't let me change out of for ages and take me for a spin in your time machine. No, no, you're right. No mixed signals there. That is just a signal. Like a great big bat signal in the sky. Get your coat love, the Doctor is in."

"No. No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's not like that. That's not what I'm like."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Then what are you like?"

"I don't know." He paused. "Gandalf. Bit of space Gandalf. Or the little green one in Star Wars."

"You really are not. You" she poked his chest "are a bloke."

"I'm the Doctor."

"Every room you walk into you laugh at all the men and show off to all the girls."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Do not!"

"Then what about Rory?" He couldn't help but chuckle, miming the man's nose. "You laughed!"

Very quickly, the Doctor corrected himself and was doubly thankful Adelaide hadn't seen that because she would not have approved. "No! That was just an involuntary snort…of fondness."

"You are a bloke and you don't know it. And here I am to help." She stepped closer, placing her hands on his chest, but the Doctor grabbed them first.

"That's not why you're here."

She frowned. "Then why am I here?"

"Because…because we can't see it anymore. Adelaide and I." He really shouldn't be speaking for Adelaide, but she'd made it quite clear that she'd traveled before, she'd had a TARDIS and she'd been able to travel anywhere she'd wanted in the entire universe. He could likely assume they had somewhat similar opinions on this.

"See what?"

"Everything. We look at a star and it's just a big ball of burning gas and we know how it began and we know how it ends, and one of us was probably there both times. After a while everything is just…stuff. That's the problem. You make all of space and time your backyard and what do you have? A backyard." He stepped back. "But you! You can see it. And when you see it, we see it."

Amy shook her head. "And that's the only reason you took me with you?"

He shrugged, releasing her hands. "There are worse reasons."

"I'm certainly hoping so." Amy paused, realizing something. "Does that mean I'm not the first then? There have been others traveling with you?"

"Yeah, sure. Loads of them. But just friends. You know, chums, pals, mates, buddies…" he paused, remembering Donna. "Not mates. Forget mates."

"And out of all those friends, how many, would you say, just out of curiosity, were girls?"

He shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "Some of them, I suppose…must have been…"

Amy didn't look like she believed him. "Some."

"It's hard to tell. It's a grey area."

"Under half…over half."

"Probably…slightly…little bit over."

Amy nodded. "Young?"

"Everyone's young compared to me."

"Hot?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Not really. Not at all. Probably not. Maybe one or two. I didn't really notice."

Amy shrugged, stepping away from the console. "Well, this big old machine must have some kind of visible records."

"I mean, no." He shook his head. "And anyways, they're voice locked."

"Oh, voice locked. So I would just have to say 'show me all visible records of previous TARDIS inhabitants'."

The Doctor chuckled. "No, no, no, no. I mean, voice locked. I would have to say 'show me all visible records of previous TARDIS inhabitants'."

Amy pat his chest, moving to a railing. "Aw, thank you!"

"No, no! No. No!" the TARDIS, rather unhelpfully began to display images of his old companions on the wall.

"Ha ha!" Amy glanced back at him. "Oh, Gandalf!"

The Doctor just turned, pouting, to the TARDIS console. "Thanks dear. Miss out the metal dog why don't you."

"Is that a leather bikini?" he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Why's Adelaide here?"

"Because," Adelaide's voice came from the stairs and the Doctor spun to look at her, "I traveled as the Doctor's companion in human form for a few years." She glanced at the Doctor's expression, raising her eyebrows at it but not commenting at the moment. "TARDIS must recognize us as two separate people, at least in terms of visual records of past inhabitants."

"Why were you human?"

"Remember the Time Lords?" Amy nodded. "I was attempting to stop them from using me to do something that could have potentially ended up destroying the entire universe." Amy's eyes widened. "Perhaps I have a better question; why were you discussing previous companions?"

Amy smirked. "Because the Doctor's a bloke."

"The Doctor is a child who forgets that he's no longer the last of his species." Adelaide walked closer to the console, looking at the Doctor's face again. "Did you try to kiss him, Amy?" She looked down at the monitor. The Doctor hadn't actually taken them from Amy's bedroom yet and she could still see what sat right outside the TARDIS door. "Who are you marrying, Amy?"

The Doctor leaned closer to her. "The non-good looking one."

Adelaide frowned for a moment. "Rory?" Amy looked put off by the continued reference to Rory as the less good looking of the pair. "Where is Rory now? I believe we have some news for him."

Amy's eyes widened. "No, you can't-"

"You should have thought about that before you kissed a 907-year-old man who, given his current expression, really didn't want you to." Adelaide shook her head. "Manners, Amy. Always remember your manners."

She flicked a lever, and they were off.

 **A/N: I wonder who it is River kills? Who could this 'protector of many' possibly be? ;)** **And we have the infamous Doctor/Amy kiss!**

 **Sidenote: I've recently put a poll on my profile to help me determine which story/stories people would like to see most. It'd be really helpful if some people could go over and give their input so that I can figure out how to best divide my time :)**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _flowerangel502: I'm glad to hear people like it :)_

 _Willow (guest): Hope you like the update!_


	11. Teamwork

**Teamwork**

It was surprisingly difficult to convince the Doctor to let Adelaide storm Rory's stag night. She would have thought she'd be the one who'd have to stop him, which she did, since he wanted to pop out of a cake, but only after she succeeded in convincing him that the best course of action was to confront Rory at the stag night.

It was quite rude, of course, but Amy had just tried to kiss a man who didn't want to be kissed on her wedding night. And Adelaide had just finished dealing with a man who didn't appreciate attempts at politeness.

She was a bit more irritated now than she normally would be.

So, instead of the Doctor popping out of a cake, Adelaide just decided to walk into the room. It wasn't nearly as grand as an entrance as the Doctor liked, but it was good enough for humans.

Rory was on his phone as Adelaide walked up and the entire crowd of men fell silent. She could guess what they were expecting, and she didn't really care. "Rory?"

He turned, finally noticing the silence of the rest of the men, and widened his eyes. "Adelaide?"

She grinned. "Yes, hello, good to see you again." She crossed her arms in front of her. "We need to talk about your fiancée." Rory pointed at his cartoonish shirt of him and Amy, but Adelaide didn't waste much time. "She tried to kiss the Doctor." Rory's face fell, a man dropped a glass, and Adelaide spotted at least two exchanging the results of what was clearly a bet. "Hope you don't mind, but I decided coming to fetch you was the best course of action." She stepped back, gesturing towards where they'd parked the TARDIS. "Let's go."

|C-S|

The Doctor was sitting underneath the console platform, welding something, while Amy paced around nervously above him. Rory was standing still in shock, while Adelaide leaned against the console, the Doctor and her occasionally glancing at each other until he began to speak.

"Oh, the life out there, it dazzles," the Doctor began. "I mean, it blinds you to the things that are important. I've seen it devour relationships and plans. It's meant to do that. Because for one person to have seen all that, to taste the glory and then go back, it will tear you apart. So, we're sending you somewhere, together."

Amy paused, looking down at him. "Whoa. What, like a date?"

Adelaide nodded. "Anywhere you want, anytime you want."

"One condition," the Doctor came up the staircase. "It has to be amazing. The Moulin Rouge in 1890. The first Olympic Games. Think of it as a wedding present, because it's either this or tokens." He shrugged, turning to Rory, who hadn't actually moved yet. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it? Tiny box, huge room inside. What's that about? Let me explain."

"It's another dimension," Rory cut in, making the Doctor pause and Adelaide widen her eyes.

"What?"

Rory shrugged. "After what happened with Prisoner Zero, I've been reading up on all the latest scientific theories. FTL travel, parallel universes."

The Doctor crossed his arms, pouting. "I like the bit when someone says it's bigger on the inside. I always look forward to that."

Amy swallowed. "So, this date. I'm kind of done with running down corridors. What do you think, Rory?"

Adelaide turned so that she could pilot the TARDIS. "How about somewhere romantic?" The Doctor ran up to help her and soon they had landed in the city of Venice, the result of the Time Lords silently agreeing on a fitting place for a date.

The Doctor opened the doors wide, running out into a market place. "Venice!" he spread his arms out. "Venezia! La Serenissima! Impossible city! Preposterous city! Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun. It was just a collection of little wooden huts in the middle of the marsh, but because one of the most powerful cities in the world. Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding, constantly just beautiful."

Adelaide smiled, moving to walk next to him as Amy and Rory left the TARDIS. "You have to love Venice, so many did. Byron, Napoleon, Casanova."

The Doctor paused. "Ooo, that reminds me…" he pointed at Adelaide.

"1580," she told him, having looked at the screen.

He nodded. "That's all right. Casanova doesn't get born for a hundred and forty-five years. Don't want to run into him." Adelaide raised an eyebrow. "I owe him a chicken."

"You owe Casanova a chicken?" Rory asked.

The Doctor waved a hand. "Long story. We had a bet."

The Time Lords didn't think, but they were next to each other and they were walking through Venice. They couldn't deny that one of their natural instincts was to take the others hands without really realizing it.

They noticed now, but they didn't care, because the Doctor had nearly just been kissed by Amy and he quite wanted to hold the hand of someone who wouldn't dare try that, even if it was because she was a stranger.

Even if it was someone he had kissed before.

Because holding her hand was nice. Even nicer now, when they weren't wandering through darkness surrounded by Angels.

They were just at the edge of the marketplace when an official man stepped out in front of them, stopping them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Papers, if you please. Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection."

The Doctor held up his psychic paper. "There you go, fellow." The man took it to study. "All to your satisfaction, I think you'll find."

The man's eyes widened. "I am so sorry, Your Holiness. I didn't realize."

The Doctor plucked back the paper. "No worries. You were just doing your job."

Adelaide leaned forward. "Sorry, what exactly is your job?"

"Checking for aliens, Your Majesty. Visitors from foreign lands what might bring the plague with them."

She nodded, glancing at the psychic paper. It appeared he'd made her a princess of sorts, much lower ranking than what he'd made himself, since he was apparently the Pope. But it was still better than the handmaiden he'd made Amy.

Amy sighed. "Oh, that's nice. See where you bring me?"

The official sneered slightly at Amy, but Adelaide cut in. "The plague?"

"No need to worry, we're under quarantine here. No one comes in, no one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri."

Adelaide raised an eyebrow. "How interesting, since I heard the plague died out years ago."

The official shook his head. "Not out there. No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes. Streets are piled high with bodies, she said."

The Time Lords exchanged a look. "Did she now?"

Rory took the psychic paper as the official stepped away. "According to this, you're her handmaiden," he told Amy as the Time Lords stepped away.

Amy stared at the two of them in shock, but the Time Lords didn't really hear. They were already walking off, hand in hand, towards a procession of women dressed entirely in white. The group of time travelers stopped among the rest of the citizens as they watched the women walk across the canal.

A man ran up to the women. "What do you want?" an older woman asked him, looking slightly horrified.

"Where's my Isabella?" he asked frantically, lifting the veils of various girls.

"What are you doing? Get away from there."

"Isabella!" the man ignored her. "Isabella, it's me!" he paused before one of the women, seeming to recognize her, but another girl had already walked forward and hissed at him, something that made the Time Lords' eyes widen; she had fangs. The man fell back in shock.

"Girls, come along," the woman gestured, and the man was left on the ground as they strolled past.

A young man, just as well dressed as the procession, put his foot on the man's chest, keeping him down.

The Time Lords glanced at each other before turning and hurrying off across the canal, leaving the humans. As long as the two stayed out of trouble, Amy and Rory would be in no danger. They could risk going to investigate exactly why that girl had fangs.

Their best option was finding the man who'd been trying to find Isabella.

After all, Adelaide quite liked investigating. Always had, always would.

They managed to get in front of him and leaned against the side of the passageway as he passed. "Who are those girls?" the Doctor called, making the man stop and turn to look at them.

"I thought everyone knew about the Calvierri school."

The Doctor shrugged. "Our first day here." They stepped forward. "It's okay. Parents do all sorts of things to get their children into good schools. They move house, they change religion. So why are you trying to get her out?"

The man eyed them, but he did answer, his fear for his daughter stopping him from being too quiet. "Something happens in there. Something magical, something evil. My own daughter didn't recognize me. And the girl who pushed me away, her face, like an animal."

Adelaide's face hardened. "I think it's time we meet Signora Calvierri."

She already didn't like the fact the woman was fooling Venice into thinking the plague still existed, but to add to that the fact she was doing something to the young girls in her school? Adelaide quite wanted to have a chat with her.

She didn't like people using science to fool people. That wasn't what it was for.

|C-S|

As appeared normal, it was a bit difficult for the Time Lords to agree on exactly what their plan would be to sneak into the school. They knew the quickest would be to attempt to get Adelaide accepted into the school, though there was always the chance that this Signora Calvierri would recognize another alien on sight and that probably wouldn't go down well. However, it might, so Adelaide was slightly tempted to give it a try.

In the end, they agreed to follow the Doctor's plan, though whenever Adelaide referred to it she did call it 'Guido's plan' since Isabella's father had been the one to come up with it, the Doctor had just started to support it. Each time it made the Doctor pout, but his expression would soften when Adelaide would laugh at him, their hands still entwined.

Guido approached the Calvierri school, the Doctor and Adelaide hiding a little ways away. "You have my daughter. Isabella!"

The guard attempted to keep him back. "No, you're not coming in. Just stop there. Look, we've told you."

As the guards were distracted, the Time Lords snuck along the building to a gate near the canal. "You have my daughter. Isabella! I demand you let me see my daughter."

Adelaide used her sonic on the gate. It took a bit longer than it would the Doctor, but she didn't have that much experience with the sonic yet.

"Isabella, it's me! It's your father!"

"We will arrest you."

"Isabella!" Guido stepped back as he watched the Time Lords sneak into the school, giving the guards a final glare before leaving.

The Time Lords, in turn, hurried down the closest staircase all the way to what they presumed was the basement. It was a large chamber with quite a few doors and a small ornate mirror next to a torch.

The Doctor paused in front of the mirror, straightening his bowtie. "Hello, handsome."

Adelaide, instead, was looking around the room and watched as five pale girls in nightgowns entered through one of the doors, surrounding the Time Lords. "Doctor…" she said quietly, and when the Doctor turned around only to frantically look between the mirror and the five, she could guess they didn't have any reflection. "How do you do that?"

"Who are you?" the girls said in unison.

"How are you doing that?" the Doctor said, agreeing with Adelaide, grinning. "I am loving it. You're like Houdini, only five slightly scary girls, and he was shorter. Will be shorter…I'm rambling."

"I'll ask you again. Who are you?"

"Why don't you check this out?" the Doctor held out a small wallet…but it wasn't the psychic paper. From what Adelaide could tell, it was a library card.

"Library card?" she asked as he put it away rather grumpily. "Rory still has it then?"

"I need a spare." He rubbed his hands together. "Okay, pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen. Ha. Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

Adelaide studied the girls. "Why shut down the city…"

"Leave now, or we shall call for the Steward, if you are lucky."

The Doctor grabbed Adelaide's hand and pulled her back up the stairs, both of them still turned to face the women. "Tell us the whole plan." The women just hissed, still advancing and pushing them back up the stairs. "One day that will work." He sighed. "Listen, we would love to stay here. This whole thing…I'm thrilled! Oh, this is Christmas!"

When he looked at Adelaide he was surprised to see her grinning just as widely as him, despite the darkness of the staircase. They didn't need to speak before turning and leaving the women behind them, running through the streets of Venice until they, somehow, managed to run directly into Amy.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted, surprised.

"We just met some vampires," the Doctor said, at the same time Amy said, "we just saw a vampire!"

"Vampires!" as the Doctor said, "and creepy girls and everything."

Rory ran up, quite out of breath. "We think we just saw a vampire."

The Doctor waved a hand at him. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Amy was just telling me."

Adelaide raised an eyebrow. "Manners."

The Doctor turned back to Rory. "Sorry, Rory, thank you." He turned to Amy like nothing had happened, except for the fact he was now struggling to hide a beam because he knew Adelaide would be just that little bit more pleased with him now. "We actually went to their house!"

Adelaide nodded. "We'll need to get back in there."

Rory's eyes widened. "What?"

Amy, on the other hand, looked quite excited. "How do we do that?"

"Back in where?"

The Doctor grinned. "Come and meet our new friend."

|C-S|

The Time Lords guided the humans to Guido's home and now they stood around the table, studying his map of Venice. Rory was sitting on some barrels in the back of the room but, honestly, none of the other time travelers were paying him much attention at the moment.

"As you saw, there's no clear way in," Guido continued explaining. "The House of Calvierri is like a fortress. But there's a tunnel underneath it, with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house. I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor."

Amy nodded. "You need someone on the inside."

"No," the Doctor said, without looking at her.

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "That we pretend you're an applicant for the school to get you inside, and tonight you come down and open the trapdoor to let us in." She didn't need any sort of mental connection with the Doctor to know that was what he was thinking. Neither of them liked the plan, but it was their only option at the moment.

Adelaide couldn't go in, she might be detected as an alien. Amy was just a human. She'd be fine in the short term.

Amy blinked. "Oh. So you do know what I was going to say."

"Are you insane?" Rory asked, and Amy glanced at him, shrugging.

"We don't have another option."

"He said no, Amy. Listen to him."

"There is another option," Guido offered. He pointed at the barrels Rory was leaning against. "I work at the Arsenale. We build the warships for the navy."

The Doctor hurried over to go sniff it. "Gunpowder," he confirmed. "Most people just nick stationary from where they work." Rory slid off the barrels. "Look, I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosive."

Adelaide raised her hand. "Same here." The Doctor glanced at her. He knew Caroline didn't like them, it was unlikely she would have been able to remain his companion as long as she had if she'd been okay with just using weapons like that. But he didn't actually know how Adelaide felt about the topic.

Like everything else, they hadn't had a chance to really discuss it yet.

Guido shrugged. "What do you suggest, then? We wait until they turn her into an animal?"

"I'll be there three, four hours, tops."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It can't keep happening like this." He glanced at Adelaide, knowing she'd remember what the Daleks had forced him to realize at the Medusa Cascade. "This is how they go."

She stood and took his hand carefully, stroking her thumb across the back of it. They stared at each other for a moment before the Doctor finally looked away, nodding. "But I have to know." He took a deep breath. "We go together, say you're my daughter."

Rory looked rather horrified. "What? Don't listen to him."

Amy, however, looked horrified for another reason. "Your daughter? You look about nine."

"Brother, then."

"Too weird. Fiancé."

Rory shook his head. "I'm not having him run around telling people he's your fiancé."

Amy had to take a moment before agreeing. "No. No, you're right."

Rory nodded. "Thank you."

"I mean, they've already seen the Doctor. You should do it."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You can be my brother."

Rory frowned. "Why is him being your brother weird, but with me, it's okay?"

Guido frowned. "Actually, I thought you were her fiancé." He pointed towards the Doctor and Adelaide didn't deny that she stepped, rather protectively, in front of the Doctor.

"Not helping," she warned Guido, and it was surprisingly difficult to keep the irritation from her voice. She was just trying to protect Rory, that was it. It had nothing to do with her own feelings because she could remove her emotions from her judgments, she knew she could.

The Time Lords had prized her on it, once. Told her it would help them win the war.

They'd been wrong.

Rory shook his head. "This whole thing is mental. They're vampires, for God's sake."

"We hope."

"So if they're not vampires?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Makes you wonder what could be so bad it doesn't actually mind us thinking it's a vampire."

|C-S|

The four of them sat in the gondola, though Guido was technically poling them, dressed in Rory's stag night shirt, since Rory couldn't quite wear that when going to get Amy into the Calvierri school.

Rory had been surprised when Adelaide had made it clear she wasn't going to be joining Amy, clearly wanting to debate Amy not doing it again, but Adelaide did remind him that she had been seen by the girls and, besides, she wasn't exactly human. That had required another bit of explanation since no one had actually bothered to really tell Rory that she and the Doctor were aliens, but eventually he agreed.

Even if Adelaide didn't really like Amy at the moment, that didn't mean she liked the thought of the woman alone in a school filled with things that wanted them to think they were vampires. They could have used the gunpowder to set off explosions, but that wouldn't have been discreet enough.

Ideally, the Doctor and she were going to sneak into the school, with Rory there to escort Amy out, despite her likely protests, without many people actually knowing they were there. That plan likely wouldn't work, but it was one the Time Lords had actually agreed on, so that counted for something.

Adelaide and the Doctor were sitting so that they could face Rory, and they were both attempting to pretend it was because it was nighttime so it was dark and he was keeping her calm. Not at all that they just wanted to sit close to each other.

No. That wasn't it at all.

"She'll be fine," the Doctor said to Rory, spotting the man's worried expression.

"You can promise me that, can you?" he muttered, both nervous and slightly irritated. Adelaide didn't even try to correct his manners.

Guido brought the gondola alongside the canal, next to a small gate with a staircase. "We're here."

The Doctor helped Adelaide out, even if she didn't need the help, and they hurried up the stairs as quickly as possible. It was Adelaide who grabbed a torch off the wall to guide the way, taking the lead.

She may be afraid of the dark, but she still knew how to deal with anything that approached in a narrow corridor.

Well, almost anything.

"Right," the Doctor said, nodding. "Okay, we'll go first. If anything happens to us, go back..."

Rory cut in. "What happened, between you and Amy? Adelaide said she kissed you."

Adelaide glanced over her shoulder. "At this moment, really?" She didn't doubt him for wanting to know but, really, picking right now? Not the best choice.

Rory shrugged. "I have a right to know. I'm getting married in four hundred and thirty years."

The Doctor sighed, and Adelaide let him try to explain. "She was frightened. I was frightened. But we survived, you know, and the relief of it... and so she tried to kiss me."

"And you kissed her back."

"No. I kissed..." he glanced at Adelaide, who shook her head without needing to look back at him. He couldn't explain away Amy's actions, no matter how hard he tried.

Rory nodded. "Funny."

The Doctor turned to face Rory, Adelaide moving a bit forward to keep watch, but not going too far away that she couldn't hear what was being said. "Rory, Rory, she kissed me because I was there. It would have been you. It should have been you."

He nodded. "Yeah, it should have been me."

"Exactly. That's why I brought you here."

A strong wind blew through the corridor, blowing out their torch. Adelaide took a shuttering breath. "Can we go and see the vampires now, please?"

The Doctor hurried up to take her hand, and Rory watched them hurry forward a bit more.

No, the Doctor didn't like Amy, not like that. But that didn't mean Amy felt the same.

 **A/N: Aw, the Time Lords like being close to each other. I wonder how long it will take them to really register what that means ;)**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _yetanotherbloodyfan: Not saying anything yet ;)_

 _flowerangel502: The Doctor is a bit oblivious about that whole thing. Sadly, Adelaide doesn't like using weapons, but I'm fairly certain she'd do that if she did :)_


	12. Questions

**Questions**

"Push!" the Doctor said as Rory attempted to push him out of the trapdoor. Adelaide had already gotten through but she wasn't actually helping, instead walking around the corridor to double check there weren't any 'vampires' in the immediate vicinity. "Come on. There we are." Once the Doctor was up, he turned and pulled Rory up after him, before turning and seeing the thing Adelaide had already determined and was attempting to figure out the reasons behind. "Amy. Where's Amy? Amy?"

Adelaide spun to look at him. "Don't shout!"

Rory shook his head. "I can't see a thing. Just as well I brought this, then." He pulled a tiny penlight from his pocket at the same moment the Doctor withdrew what Adelaide could only describe as an ultraviolet sword.

"Ultraviolet. Portable sunlight."

Rory frowned at it. "Yours is bigger than mine."

Adelaide stepped up to the Doctor, holding up a finger as she took the light. "Not appropriate for this situation."

She probably wouldn't have been bothered about whatever Rory and the Doctor were doing if Amy had been where she was meant to be, but the fact the woman was currently missing meant she didn't really want to get distracted. They were in a school filled with 'vampires' and it was partially her fault Amy was inside in the first place. She would really prefer to just go find Amy now.

It also didn't help that it was rather dark.

The Doctor took her hand, squeezing it for a second, before stepping away to study the area. She'd been quite tempted to open the various chests surrounding the courtyard, but she'd waited for the Doctor, knowing that he, like her, would immediately want to open them.

And she was right.

"If we cancel now," Rory mumbled, following behind the Time Lords, "we lose the deposit on the village hall. The salsa band...oh." His voice fell as the Doctor opened the chest.

It was filled with what Adelaide could only describe as a desiccated corpse, like a husk.

"What happened to them?"

Adelaide grabbed the Doctor's hand right before he could poke it. "All of the moisture has been taken out of them."

"That's what vampires do, right? They drink your blood and replace it with their own."

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, except these people haven't just had their blood taken, but all the water in their entire bodies."

Rory frowned. "Why did they die? Why aren't they like the girls in the school?"

She stepped back. "Everyone doesn't necessarily survive the process."

Rory tightened his grip on his penlight. "You know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks, it's that you make them want to impress you. You make it so they don't want to let you down." He glared. "You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around."

The Doctor said nothing, only turned around...and stepped back as more girls appeared. "Who are you?" the six said in unison.

"We should run," the Doctor told Rory, Adelaide waving the light over his shoulder to keep the girls back. "Run!"

They turned and ran off down the corridors, though the girls followed them. They didn't quite know where they were going, but somehow they ended up almost running directly into a well-dressed woman and a young man, presumably the Signora and her son, given Guido's descriptions.

"Cab for Amy Pond?" the Doctor offered, glancing back to see that the girls had blocked their way back, trapping the trio in the section of the corridor.

"This rescue plan," the Signora said, smirking. "Not exactly watertight, is it?"

Adelaide brandished the light at the girls, keeping them from getting too close, as Amy and a young woman ran up to them.

"Rory!" Amy gasped, rushing straight to her fiancé.

"Amy!"

The other woman gestured them back the way they'd come. "Quickly, through here." They followed her down into a green-lit room and a chair and back out the hallway, the girls still chasing them.

"They're not vampires!" Amy informed them as they ran.

"What?"

"I saw them. I saw her. They're not vampires, they're aliens!"

The Doctor laughed, sonicing the trapdoor. "Classic!"

Rory just looked shocked. "That's good news? What is wrong with you people?"

"Come on, Rory, move!" The Doctor shoved Rory, the Time Lords stepping back to let the woman lead the humans out. "Keep moving. Come on, guys."

"Quickly," the woman gasped, pulling open a door at the end, revealing the canal and Guido. "Get out. Quick!" She waited for all the time travelers before attempting to leave herself, only to recoil from the sunlight.

"Come on," the Doctor said, trying to grab her arm and pull her on. "Run!"

But the woman shook her head. "I can't."

"The sun!" Adelaide called, further ahead then the Time Lord, but it was too late, the other girls had already caught up to them. They dragged the woman back into the tunnel, shutting the door in their face. The Doctor didn't stop, running up to trying open it again...only to fall to the ground with a bolt of electricity.

Rory ran for the Doctor at the same time as Adelaide, but she got there first.

"Is he dead?" Amy called.

Adelaide shook her head, grabbing the Doctor's hand. "No, he's fine."

Slowly, the Doctor opened his eyes and, still in a slight daze, pulled Adelaide's hand up to his lips to place a light kiss to it.

She didn't even protest.

|C-S|

When Signora Calvierri entered her throne room, she was slightly surprised to see only Adelaide sitting there, lounging in her throne. The Doctor had attempted to come, but Adelaide had given him a quick scan with her sonic and informed him that he needed to rest for at least an hour after such a large electric shock. He'd claimed he was the one who was actually a doctor, but when she'd questioned exactly where he'd gotten his degree from, he'd just pouted.

Eventually, she'd gotten him to stay with Amy, Rory, and Guido and promised to give him a complete description of everything the Signora told her.

"Quite a long way from Saturnyne, aren't you?" Adelaide called. She'd been able to determine what the species was given Amy's description. "Sister of the Water."

The Signora smirked at her. "No, let me guess. The owner of the psychic paper."

Adelaide shrugged. "Friend of the owner. Same conclusion though. My name is Adelaide."

"You're a refugee, like me?"

"I'll make you a deal. An answer for an answer." The Signora nodded. "You're using a perception filter. It manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you but doesn't actually change your appearance. So, if you were to see one of you for the first time in something like a mirror, the brain wouldn't know what to fill the gap with. Therefore, it's left blank, meaning no reflection."

"Your question?"

"Why can we see your teeth?"

"Self-preservation over-rides the mirage. The subconscious perceives the threat and tries to alert the conscious brain." Adelaide nodded, knowing it was the Signora's time for a question. "Where are you from?"

"Gallifrey."

The Signora's eyes widened. "You should be in a museum." She paused. "Or a mausoleum."

"Why are you here?"

"We ran from the Silence. Why are you here?"

She shrugged. "Wedding present. Or teaching someone a lesson. Either way. The Silence?"

"There were cracks. Some were tiny. Some were as big as the sky. Through some, we saw worlds and people, and through others, we saw Silence and the end of all things. We fled to an ocean like ours and the crack snapped shut behind us. Saturnyne was lost." Adelaide had visited Saturnyne once, a long time ago.

"And you plan for Earth to be a replacement?"

The Signora nodded, hurrying forward. "And you can help me. We can build a new society here, as others have. What do you say?"

Adelaide stood from the throne. "Where's Isabella?"

The Signora frowned. "Isabella?"

"The girl who saved the ginger."

She waved a hand. "Oh, deserters must be executed. Any general will tell you that." A general had. "I need an answer, Adelaide. A partnership. Any which way you choose."

Adelaide stepped past her. "I liked you once." The woman tilted her head. "We've met before, in case you forgot. And I am disgusted to say I actually liked you."

"Carlo!" the Signora called, the man running into the room. "You're right. We're nothing alike. I will bend the heavens to save my race, while you philosophize."

Adelaide shrugged. "I've had the option to bend the heavens before. Didn't like it then either. But this ends today. We will tear down the House of Calvierri, stone by stone." Carlo reached to take her arm, but Adelaide just stepped back again. "Don't you dare, child." The man stepped back. "And would you like to know why? You didn't know Isabella's name."

Without another word, Adelaide turned and walked away, not bothering to look back.

|C-S|

As expected, the Doctor was still irritated that she'd forced him to miss the confrontation of the Signora. He was outside Guido's home, pacing, waiting for her to return. Not because he was worried for her, of course, that wasn't the reason.

He hadn't spent the entire time being terrified that something would happen to her because she was all alone and she was the only other Time Lady in the universe.

He had been tempted to follow her in secret, but he had the feeling that Adelaide probably would have seen him. It seemed like something she would have noticed.

Now that Adelaide had returned the pair entered Guido's home. Rory and Amy were sitting side by side, not talking, while Guido was a bit apart, head in his hands.

"Let me scan the wounds," the Doctor called, gesturing for Amy to come up to him. He soniced the two small wounds, Adelaide resting one arm against his shoulder to look at the reading. "You're fine. Open wide." He popped a sweetie, pulling it from his seemingly endless pockets, into her mouth. Then he moved to sit at the head of the table, Adelaide staying where she was standing. "Argh. I need to think. Come on, brain. Think, think, think. Think."

Amy shrugged. "If they're fish people, it explains why they hate the sun."

Adelaide glared at her. "Stop talking."

The Doctor nodded. "Brains thinking."

"Hush."

Rory shook his head. "It's the school thing I don't understand."

"Stop talking."

"Brains thinking."

"Hush."

"I say we take the fight to them."

The Doctor just pointed to Guido. "Ah, ah, ah."

Guido frowned. "What?"

Adelaide leaned against the edge of the table across from the Doctor. "Her planet dies, so they flee through a crack in space and time and end up here. Then she closes off the city and starts to change the population into her alien race to start a new gene pool."

He nodded. "Got it. But then what? They come from the sea. They can't survive forever on land, so what's she going to do?"

Adelaide's eyes widened. "She'd have to do something to the environment to make the city habitable. She said, 'I shall bend the heavens to save my race'."

"Bend the heavens…bend the heavens…"

Adelaide pushed herself back. "She's going to sink Venice."

"She's going to sink Venice?"

The Doctor nodded. "And repopulate it with the girls she's transformed."

"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women," Rory offered. "You need blokes."

"She's got blokes."

Adelaide spun to face Amy. "Where?"

"In the canal. She said to me there are ten thousand husbands waiting in the water."

Adelaide nodded. "Only the male offspring survived the journey."

"She's got ten thousand children swimming around the canals, waiting for Mum to make them some compatible girlfriends." The Doctor grimaced. "Urgh. I mean, I've been around a bit, but that's…that's eugh." Adelaide only nodded, but they were cut off by a loud thump above them. "The people upstairs are very noisy."

"There aren't any people upstairs."

Adelaide groaned. "Of course."

"I knew he was going to say that," the Doctor agreed.

Rory studied the ceiling like he could see through it. "Is it the vampires?"

"Like I said, they're not vampires. Fish from space."

Adelaide glared at him. "Brothers and Sisters of the Water, Doctor. It doesn't take that much effort to use their proper name."

The window near them shattered, letting a handful of transformed girls attempt to crawl through to reach them.

"Aren't we on the second floor?"

The Doctor grabbed his light from the table and waved it to keep them back, letting Adelaide use her sonic beside them to reveal their true appearance.

Guido gasped. "What's happened to them?"

The Doctor shook his head. "There's nothing left of them. They've been fully converted. Blimey, fish from space-"

"Sisters of the Water!"

There was a pause, but it appeared that the Doctor had taken that moment to actually consider what he'd been about to say and decide that, no, he really didn't want to with Adelaide standing next to him already looking like she was ready to slap him for failing to use the species' actual name. "Okay, move."

They all ran down the steps, the time travelers first, with Guido taking up the rear. "Give me the lamp," Guido said, grabbing the light from the Doctor to flash at the girls.

"Go, go, go, guys," the Doctor ushered the humans on. "Keep moving. Go, go, go."

"Stay away from the door!" Guido called after them before slamming the door shut, locking them out of the home.

The Doctor ran forwards, too quickly for Adelaide to keep him back, because she could already guess what the human was planning and knew there was no way to stop him; humans were notorious for not listening to reason when attempting to get revenge. "No! Guido, what are you doing? We're not leaving you! What are you doing?" The Doctor tried his sonic on the door. "Guido!"

Adelaide finally ran forwards, grabbing the Doctor's arm and pulling him back. "Move!"

She managed to do it just as the home exploded, sending them to the ground, though the Doctor sprang up from the precarious position that he'd fallen on top of her. They both looked at the sky. "Rosanna's initiating the final phase," he reasoned.

Amy and Rory ran back up to them. "We need to stop her. Come on."

The Doctor grabbed her arm. "No, no, no. Get back to the TARDIS."

Amy frowned. 'You can't stop her on your own."

"Then it's good that he's not on his own," Adelaide cut in. "We're not discussing this, Amy."

"I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it. Huh?"

Amy pouted at them, but she stormed off. Rory took a second to look at them and say, "thank you."

The Doctor nodded. "You're welcome."

After Rory had hurried away, Adelaide turned to the Doctor. "You do realize we just abandoned them to the perils of a city the Sisters of the Water are attempting to sink, don't you?"

The Doctor paused.

"Thankfully, they're both so obsessed with keeping each other safe that nothing will happen to either of them." She grabbed his hand again. "Now, I need to show you the way to the throne room."

|C-S|

That time, when the Signora entered her throne room, both Time Lords were there. They had begun to take apart the chair, revealing circuitry, and were attempting to figure out how to stop what the Sisters were planning.

"You're too late," the Signora called. "Such determination, just to save one city. Hard to believe these are the same people who let an entire race turn to cinders and ash. Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom."

"The girls have gone, Rosanna."

The Signora paused. "You're lying."

The Doctor shrugged. "Shouldn't we be dead, hmm?"

"Help us, Rosanna," Adelaide offered. "There are two hundred thousand people in this city."

The Signora sneered, turning. "So save them."

The Time Lords grit their teeth and returned to work, though the Doctor did run out to look out at the city before returning to help. However, he didn't get that close, because he stopped when Amy and Rory ran into the throne room. "Get out. We need to stabilize the storm."

Rory shook his head. "We're not leaving you."

The Doctor sighed. "Right, so one minute it's all 'you make people a danger to themselves', and the next it's 'we're not leaving you'. But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets the-" he was cut off by the building shaking, throwing everyone but Adelaide down to the ground, since she was holding onto the throne.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." The Doctor glanced at Adelaide. "Bit of an earthquake."

Amy frowned. "An earthquake?"

Adelaide shrugged. "Manipulating the elements can trigger earthquakes. But don't worry about them."

"No?"

"Worry about the tidal waves caused by the earthquake."

The Doctor nodded. "Right, Rosanna's throne is the control hub but she's locked the program, so…" he pointed at Adelaide, who stood and walked over to him.

"Tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne."

"Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything. We need it to shut down and re-route control to the secondary hub, which I'm guessing will also be the generator." The Doctor turned to Adelaide, and they didn't have to think to take each other's hand. "The generator?"

"Tower."

"Ever dealt with a Sisters of the Water power source before?"

Adelaide paused, thinking. "Actually, yes."

The Doctor grinned. "Well, then, lead the way."

|C-S|

Adelaide was very thankful she wasn't afraid of heights - even if she was slightly afraid of storms - because in order to reach the generator she needed to climb the bell tower. The Doctor offered to do it, but Adelaide reminded him she was more likely to actually know what to do.

Instead, she left him near the bells in case she needed help. Then she began to climb to the large lightning conductor on the roof.

Once she reached the top, Adelaide pulled open the brass sphere at the top, revealing the clockwork beneath. It took a second since it had been a while since she'd seen Sisters of the Water technology and she wasn't technologically inclined, but eventually, she did determine what was what.

It was a bit of a risk, moving forward just guessing that Amy and Rory had managed to destroy the throne enough, but Adelaide didn't have much longer to waste.

She flicked the switch and immediately the storm started dissipating, revealing the clear sky.

Unlike the Doctor, who probably would have waved and relished in the cheers, Adelaide hurried back down to where he was waiting…where he promptly hugged her, quite tightly.

And she didn't care because the Doctor gave quite wonderful hugs. Or, at least, that was what she told herself.

|C-S|

The Time Lords approached the Signora as she stood above the bubbling water of the canal, still looking like a human. "Rosanna!" the Doctor called, but she didn't look back.

"One city to save an entire species," she mumbled. "Was that so much to ask?"

"You can't go back and change time," Adelaide told her. "You mourn, but you live. We know, Rosanna, we did it."

"Tell me, Adelaide, Doctor. Can your consciences carry the weight of another dead race?" she paused, breathing deeply. "Remember us. Dream of us."

The Signora stepped off the plank into the water, falling to her death. The Doctor ran forwards to the edge of the water, but she was gone. Adelaide stepped forward and touched the Doctor's shoulder, letting him grip her hand, finding comfort in the other instinctually.

|C-S|

Back in the marketplace, the citizens of Venice were attempting to clean up after the storm.

"Now then, what about you two, eh?" the Doctor turned to Amy and Rory, smiling. "Next stop Leadworth Registry Office. Maybe I can give you away."

"It's fine," Rory's voice was uneasy, and Adelaide was certain that even a rock would have been able to tell that no, he was not fine. "Drop me back where you found me. I'll just say you've…"

"Stay." Rory actually stopped walking when Amy said that. "With us. Please. Just for a bit. I want you to stay."

The humans glanced at the Time Lords, and the Doctor nodded. "Fine with me."

Adelaide shrugged. "Don't really get a say." That made the Doctor pause, looking at her, though the humans didn't pick up on it.

He'd forgotten that he'd never actually asked Adelaide to stay on the TARDIS with him. It had just happened because she was the last Time Lady, or because she had once been his companion, or because they had just never had a real conversation.

And he really wanted Adelaide to stay with him. Not for any of those three reasons…he just wanted to be around her. He wanted her opinions and he wanted to see her face brighten with adventure and he wanted her hand to hold. He just wanted her there.

He would miss her if she left.

Rory and Amy, meanwhile, were having their own conversation. "Yeah? Yes, I would like that."

Amy grinned. "Nice one." She kissed her fiancé's cheek. "I will pop the kettle on." She moved to the TARDIS doors. "Hey, look at this. Got my spaceship, got my boys, got my girl. My work here is done." She entered the TARDIS, leaving the door cracked open.

Rory paused, glancing at the Time Lord. "Er, we are not her boys."

Adelaide chuckled. "Yeah, you are."

Rory sighed. "Yeah, I am." He moved to enter the TARDIS, but Adelaide touched his arm, stopping him.

"Rory, listen to that," the Doctor mumbled.

"Er, what? All I can hear is silence." He shrugged, entering the TARDIS.

The Time Lords paused. "Silence," the Doctor repeated.

"'Silence will fall'."

They squeezed each other's hands before entering the TARDIS, piloting it away together.

However, it didn't take that long before the Doctor actually pulled Adelaide aside to have a quick conversation. They both seemed surprised that he'd actually managed it for once since both of them had started falling into the habit of just avoiding conversation.

But he didn't want to avoid this, for once.

"I was wondering…" the Doctor said quietly, him and Adelaide standing across from each other near his harness under the console. "If you wanted to stay in the TARDIS with me."

Adelaide smiled. "If you want me to."

The Doctor grinned.

He was glad Adelaide was going to stay with him. He never wanted her to leave him again.

 **A/N: The Doctor has officially asked Adelaide to stay with him! But what will the Dream Lord have to say about the pair of them?**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _CatLady101: I think I originally intended it to be a callback to the fact that everyone thought Donna and the Doctor were a couple, but I honestly forgot that they'd been holding hands the entire time! Whoops! :)_

 _Gammily: We shall find out soon enough why Adelaide was on Earth when she was, don't worry._


	13. Dreams

**Dreams**

The TARDIS appeared in the middle of a small garden and when the Doctor poked his head out he grimaced, immediately bending down to the ground to try and keep a certain Time Lady from figuring out he'd crushed the humans' flowers.

He wasn't successful.

"What have you done?"

The Doctor turned and spun to face Adelaide. "Nothing."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Did you land in their flowerbed?"

"No!"

Adelaide just sighed. "Doctor…" He stepped backward and fell flat on his back because he hadn't actually accounted for a small wall bordering the garden. She stepped after him. "This is why I haven't let you pilot recently."

"I know how to pilot the TARDIS!"

"For the record, I have never landed in a flower bed. Currently, it's you one, me nil."

Rory hurried out of the home they'd landed behind, making the Doctor spin around in an attempt to get away from Adelaide. "Rory!"

"Doctor! Adelaide!"

"He's crushed your flowers," Adelaide called.

Rory shook his head. "Oh, Amy will kill you."

The Doctor looked over Rory's shoulder. "Where is she?"

"She'll need a bit longer."

"Whenever you're ready, Amy!" Their eyes widened when Amy emerged, very pregnant. "Oh, way-hey! You've swallowed a planet!"

Adelaide frowned at him. "She's pregnant."

"You're huge!"

"Yes, because she's pregnant."

The Doctor shook his head. "Look at you. When worlds collide."

"Doctor, she's pregnant."

He stepped back, looking between the two previous companions. "Oh, look at you both. Five years later and you haven't changed a bit, apart from age and size."

"Manners!"

Amy just sighed, shaking her head. "Oh, it's good to see the two of you."

Finally, what Adelaide had been telling him clicked. "Are you pregnant?"

Adelaide sighed and Amy laughed, gesturing for all of them to follow her into the house and out into the lane.

"Ah, Leadworth," the Doctor said with a nod, looking around. "Vibrant as ever."

"It's Upper Leadworth, actually," Rory corrected. "We've gone slightly upmarket."

Adelaide frowned. "Where is everyone?"

"This is busy." The Time Lords looked at her in shock and disbelief. "Okay, it's quiet, but it's really restful and healthy. Loads of people here live well into their nineties."

"Well, don't let that get you down."

"It's not getting me down."

Rory brought them all to a small bench, each couple sitting next to each other. "Well, we wanted to see how you were. You know us, we don't just abandon people when they leave the TARDIS. These Time Lords are for life. You don't get rid of your old pals the Doctor and Adelaide so easily."

"Hmm. You came here by mistake, didn't you?"

Adelaide nodded. "To be honest, yes. We were aiming for the moons of Poosh but the Doctor missed."

"I thought you said we weren't going to tell them that."

"I never said anything of the sort."

The Doctor crossed his arms, but Adelaide took his hand, letting him relax slightly. "Though, what a result of that mistake. Look at this bench. What a nice bench." He rubbed it with his free hand. "What will they think of next?" After another second he sighed, swinging his feet. "So…what do you do around here to stave off the, you know…"

"Boredom," Amy nodded.

"Self-harm."

"We relax," Rory tried, making the Doctor mouth the word. "We live. We listen to the birds."

"Yeah, see? Birds. Those are nice."

"We didn't get time to listen to birdsong back in the TARDIS days, did we?"

The birdsong got distinctly louder, making Adelaide frown.

"Oh, blimey, my head's a bit…" the Doctor rubbed his head, before leaning back again. "Ooo. Er, no, you're right, there wasn't a lot of time for birdsong back in the good old…" slowly, his eyes drifted shut, Adelaide's head resting against his shoulder at the same time.

|C-S|

The Doctor jerked himself up from the floor of the console. "…days. What?" he leapt up. "No, yes, sorry, what?" he turned in a circle and was, very honestly, thankful to see Adelaide was fine, uncurling herself from one of the chairs by the console. Amy and Rory entered from one of the side rooms. "Oh, you're okay. Oh, thank God. I had a terrible nightmare about you two. That was scary. Don't ask. You don't want to know. You're safe now." He hugged Amy tightly.

Amy frowned. "Oh, okay."

"That's what counts." He stepped back, shaking his head. "Blimey, never dropped off like that before. Well, never, really. I'm getting on a bit, you see. Don't let the cool gear fool you."

Adelaide came up beside him. "Right now we really should be focused on the TARDIS."

He turned to study the console, which had quite a few red lights going off. "Now, what's wrong with the console? Red flashing lights. I bet they mean something." He looked up at Adelaide, but she could only shrug.

"Er, Doctor, I also had a kind of dream thing," Rory said.

Amy nodded. "Yeah, so did I."

"I did too," Adelaide commented.

"Not a nightmare, though, just, er, we were married," he glanced at Amy, who nodded again.

"Yeah, in a little village."

"A sweet little village, and you were pregnant."

Amy's eyes widened. "Yes, I was huge. I was a boat."

Rory paused. "So you had the same dream, then? Exactly the same dream?"

"Are you calling me a boat?"

Rory turned to the Time Lords. "And Doctor, Adelaide, you came to our cottage."

"Yeah, yeah, you came to our cottage."

"How can we have the same dream? It doesn't make any sense."

"And you had a nightmare about us." The Doctor paused, not looking at the humans. "What happened to us in the nightmare?"

He shrugged. "It was a bit similar, in some aspects.'

"Which aspects?"

Adelaide studied the Doctor. "All of them?" she offered, and he nodded.

"You had the same dream."

"Basically."

"You said it was a nightmare."

"Did I say nightmare?" he moved to the side, trying to hide behind Adelaide, which really didn't work as well as he'd hoped. "No, more of a really good more. Look, it doesn't matter."

Adelaide nodded. 'We all had some sort of psychic episode."

"Probably jumped a time track or something." The Doctor waved a hand. "Forget it. We're back to reality now."

Adelaide paused her motion and looked around when, suddenly, there was a slight birdsong.

"If we're back to reality, how come I can still hear the birds?" Amy asked.

Rory nodded. "Yeah, the same birds. The same ones we heard in the…"

|C-S|

"…dream." Rory jerked up at the same time as everyone else. "Oh. Sorry. Nodded off. Stupid. God, I must be overdoing it. I was dreaming we were back on the TARDIS." The Doctor and Adelaide stood from the bench and moved to the middle of the road, looking around. "You had the same dream, didn't you?"

Amy frowned. "Weren't we just saying the same thing?"

"But we thought this was the dream, didn't we?"

"I think so." She sighed, irritated. "Why do dreams have to fade so quickly?"

"Doctor, Adelaide, what is going on?"

"Is this because of the two of you? Is this some Time Lordy thing because you've shown up again?"

Adelaide turned to face the humans. "Listen to us. Trust nothing you see, hear, or feel."

"But we're awake now."

She nodded. "You thought you were awake on the TARDIS, too."

"But we're home."

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, you're home. You're also dreaming. Trouble is, Rory, Amy, which is which? Are we flashing forwards or backwards? Hold on tight." He took a deep breath. "This is going to be a tricky one."

|C-S|

Amy nearly fell out of the jump seat as the Time Lords worked on the console, trying to get anything to work. "Oh, this is bad. I don't like this." He kicked the console and immediately clutched his foot, wincing. "Argh. Never use force. You just embarrass yourself. Unless you're cross, in which case, always use force."

"Shall I run and get the manual?" Amy offered.

The Doctor grimaced. "I threw it in a supernova."

She raised her eyebrows. "You threw the manual in a supernova? Why?"

Adelaide sighed. "He disagreed with it, apparently."

"Stop talking to me when I'm cross."

Rory walked up to them. "Okay, but whatever's wrong with the TARDIS, is that what caused us to dream about the future?"

The Doctor shrugged. "If we were dreaming of the future."

Amy frowned. "Well, of course, we were. We were in Leadworth."

"Upper Leadworth."

"And we could still be in Upper Leadworth, dreaming of this," Adelaide said, nodding.

Amy just shook her head. "No, okay? No, this is real. I'm definitely awake now."

"And you thought you were awake in Upper Leadworth."

The Doctor nodded. "All elephanty."

"Hey, pregnant!"

"And you could be giving birth right now. This could be the dream."

"I told you. Trust nothing we see or hear or feel." Adelaide stepped back. "Use your eyes, look around you. Notice everything. Look for anything that doesn't seem true."

Rory sighed. "Okay, we're in a spaceship that's bigger on the inside than the outside."

"With a bow-tie wearing alien."

"So maybe what rings true isn't so simple."

Adelaide paused, reconsidering her words. "Valid point."

"Oi!" The Doctor crossed his arms, but they fell when the TARDIS shut itself completely off, leaving them in almost complete darkness. The Doctor took Adelaide's hand, the two moving closer together. "It's dead. We're in a dead time machine."

The birdsong started again. "Remember, this is real," Adelaide tried. "Remember how real this feels."

Amy nodded. "It is real. I know it's real."

|C-S|

The Time Lords were still standing in the center of the road, watching a group of schoolchildren hurry past. Amy rubbed her stomach. "Okay, this is the real one. Definitely this one. It's all solid."

"It felt solid in the TARDIS too," the Doctor reminded her. "You can't spot a dream while you're having it." He waved his hand quickly before his face, watching his fingers.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for motion blur, pixelation. It could be a computer simulation. I don't think so, though."

An old woman walked past them, nodding. "Hello, doctor."

"Hi," Rory said, at the same time the Doctor said, "hello!"

The Time Lord paused. "You're a doctor."

Rory nodded. "Yeah. And unlike you, I've actually passed some exams."

Adelaide frowned. "A doctor, not a nurse."

"Just like you've always dreamed. How interesting."

"What is?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Your dream wife, your dream job, probably your dream baby. Maybe this is your dream."

Rory shook his head. "It's Amy's dream too." He looked to her. "Isn't it, Amy?"

Amy took a few seconds to nod. "Yes. Course it is, yeah."

The Doctor pointed at the building across from them. "What's that?"

"Old people's home."

Adelaide stepped forward. "You said everyone here lives to their nineties. There's something here that doesn't make sense."

The Doctor grinned. "Let's go and poke it with a stick." He pulled Adelaide off towards the building, Rory and Amy, after a few moments of groaning, following.

They walked into a lounge, where a few of the residents were resting. "Oh hello, Dr. Williams!" a woman said.

"Hello, Rory love," another looked up from her knitting.

Rory smiled at her. "Hello, Mrs. Poggit. How's your hip?"

"A bit stiff."

"Oh, easy. D-96 compound, plus…" Adelaide fixed the Doctor with an expression, and he let it fade. "Forget that."

Mrs. Poggit frowned at him. "Who's your friend? A junior doctor?"

Rory answered before the Doctor could. "Yes."

"Can I borrow you? You're the size of my grandson." Mrs. Poggit gestured him forward, but the Doctor didn't want to let go of Adelaide's hand.

"Slightly keen to move on. Freak psychic schism to sort out." Suddenly, the Doctor leaned forward, shoving Mrs. Poggit's shoulders slightly, and avoiding Adelaide's swatting arm in the process. "You're incredibly old, aren't you?"

The birdsong began again and the time travelers staggered, the Doctor and Adelaide practically falling on top of each other as they neared the floor.

|C-S|

When they woke, they were leaning against the console, and Adelaide actually hit it in her annoyance.

"Okay, I hate this, Doctor," Amy said, turning to them. "Stop it, because this is definitely real. It's definitely this one." She paused. "I keep saying that, don't I?"

"It's bloody cold," Rory grumbled, rubbing his arms.

The Doctor flicked a few switches on the console. "The heating's off."

"The heating's off?"

He nodded. "Yeah, put on a jumper. That's what I always do."

Rory leaned back against the console. "Er, yes. Sorry about Mrs. Poggit. She's so lovely though."

"I wouldn't believe her nice old lady act if I were you."

Amy frowned. "What do you mean, act?"

Adelaide typed a few things on the console, her arm brushing up against the Doctor as she leaned across him. "Everything's off, and that includes the core power. We're just drifting."

The Doctor hit one of the screens. "The scanner's down so we can't even see out. We could be anywhere." He frowned. "Someone, something, is overriding my controls."

Over his shoulder, a man flickered into view at the top of the stairs. "Well, that took a while." Everyone turned. The man was short and dressed in some way that looked like it was meant to mock the Doctor. "Honestly, I'd heard such good things. Last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm and his protector. Him in the bow-tie…"

The Doctor cut him off. "How did you get into my TARDIS? What are you?"

"What shall we call me?" the man frowned, pondering it. "Well, if you're the Time Lords…let's call me the Dream Lord."

The Doctor eyed him. "Nice look."

"This?" the Dream Lord looked down. "No, I'm not convinced. Bow-ties?" he looked up again, smirking. "though I know a certain Time Lady who loves it, doesn't she?" Adelaide looked away briefly as the Doctor threw a random console object through the Dream Lord. "Interesting. I'd love to be impressed, but Dream Lord? It's in the name, isn't it?" he wiggled his fingers. "Spooky. Not quite there." He reappeared behind them. "And yet, very much here."

"We'll do the talking, thank you." The Doctor looked towards the humans. "Amy, want to take a guess at what that is?"

"Er, Dream Lord. He creates dreams."

The Dream Lord glanced at Adelaide. "Doesn't it just drag you down, being around someone so terribly simple?"

Adelaide gripped something on the console. "Dreams, delusions, cheap tricks."

"And what about the gooseberry, here." The Dream Lord nodded towards Rory. "Does he get a guess?"

"Er, listen, mate. If anyone's the gooseberry around here, it's the Doctor."

The Dream Lord scoffed. "Well now, there's a delusion I'm not responsible for."

"No, he is. Isn't he, Amy?"

"Oh, Amy, have to sort your men out. Choose, even."

"I have chosen. Of course, I've chosen." Amy hit Rory's arm. "It's you, stupid."

Rory nodded. "Oh, good. Thanks."

The Dream Lord appeared between Amy and Adelaide. "You can't fool me. I've seen your dreams," he leaned closer to Adelaide, whispering it, before leaning back. "Some of them twice." He turned again to face Amy, but Adelaide still stepped back. "Amy, blimey, I'd blush if I had a blood supply or a real face."

The Doctor frowned at him. "Where did you pick up this cheap cabaret act?"

"Me? Oh, you're on shaky ground."

"Am I?"

"If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a Tawdry Quirk Shop. The madcap vehicle, the cockamamie hair, the clothes designed by a first-year fashion student." The Dream Lord laughed. "I'm surprised you haven't got a little purple space dog just to ram home what an intergalactic wag you are." He paused. "Where was I?"

"You were…" Rory began, but the Dream Lord cut him off.

"I know where I was." He turned back to the time travelers, appearing before them. "This is your challenge; two worlds. Here, in the time machine, and there, in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's fake. And just to make it more interesting, you're going to face in both worlds a deadly danger, but only one of the dangers is real." He winked at Adelaide. "Time to use those well-known observational and reasoning skills. But tweet, tweet." He gave a little wave. "Time to sleep." The birdsong began again. "Oh, or are you waking up?"

As the time travelers fell to the ground again, the Time Lords tried to cling to consciousness, but even they fell back into the little village that they couldn't stand.

|C-S|

When they woke on the floor of the parlor, now completely empty, Adelaide leapt from her position on top of the Doctor. The Dream Lord entered the room, holding an x-ray. "Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad. Look at this x-ray." He turned to the Doctor, holding it out. "Your brain is completely see-through. But then, I've always been able to see through you, Doctor."

Amy frowned. "Always? What do you mean, always?"

"Now then, the prognosis is this," the Dream Lord continued, not listening to her. "If you die in the dream, you wake up in reality. Healthy recovery in next to no time. Ask me what happens if you die in reality?"

Adelaide held up a hand to stop Rory from asking. "Think about it for a second."

The Dream Lord pouted. "Ruining my fun."

"Have you met the Doctor before?" Amy asked, not seeming overly threatened by the Dream Lord. "Do you know him? Doctor, does he?"

"Now don't get jealous. He's been around, our boy. But never mind that." He turned to the Time Lords. "You've got a world to choose. One reality was always too much for you, Doctor. Take two and call me in the morning." He turned slightly to Adelaide and mimed a phone, clearly taking pleasure in the way the Doctor's fists clenched by his side, before vanishing.

Rory sighed. "Okay, I don't like him."

Amy crossed her arms. "Who is he?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know. It's a big universe." He glanced at Adelaide. "Guesses?"

"A few." She ran a hand through her hair. "But I've never experienced any of them, so I have no idea what they're actually like."

"Why is he doing this?" Amy tried.

"Maybe because he has no physical form. That gets you down after a while, so he's taking it out on folk like us who can touch and eat and feel."

Adelaide said nothing, but she shook her head, still thinking.

"What does he mean, deadly danger, though? Nothing deadly has happened here. I mean, a bit of natural wastage, obviously."

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "Missing elderly people bother anyone else?"

The Doctor spun in a circle, confirming Adelaide's observation, before turning and leading everyone out of the building, towards where a group of children were playing next to local ruins.

"Why would they leave?"

"And what did you mean about Mrs. Poggit's nice old lady act?"

"Perhaps focus on the mechanics of the reality at the moment?" Adelaide shrugged. "Determine the laws and then we can start ruling out possibilities. Observations?"

"Time asleep exactly matches time in our dream world, unlike in conventional dreams," the Doctor offered.

"And we're all dreaming the same dream at the same time."

"Yes, sort of communal trace, very rare, very complicated." The Doctor nodded.

Adelaide looked around them. "It's possible there's a dream tell, but it's even more likely the Dream Lord wouldn't allow it to be obvious enough for us to notice."

"Our minds aren't working because this village is so dull!" the Doctor said, and Adelaide nodded; dull villages were horrible for antsy Time Lords. "We're slowing down," he glanced at the humans, "like you two have."

It was a sign that Adelaide was distracted because she didn't bother reminding the Doctor of his manners.

Suddenly, Amy grabbed her stomach. "Oh…ow! Really. Ow! It's coming!"

Adelaide turned to Amy sharply, eyeing her, while both men, two doctors of varying degrees, looked terrified. "Did your water break?"

She was fairly certain Amy couldn't actually hear her over the two men panicking. "You're a doctor," the Doctor turned to Rory, "help her!"

"You're a doctor!"

"You're both doctors and I'm a scientist," Adelaide reminded them, still eyeing Amy.

The Doctor nodded. "It's okay, we're doctors." He squat down like he was preparing to just catch the baby, making Adelaide shake her head.

"What do we do?"

Amy calmed suddenly. "Okay, it's not coming."

The Doctor stood. "What?"

"This is my life now and it just turned you white as a sheet, so don't you call it dull again, ever. Okay?"

"Sorry."

Amy nodded. "Yeah." She turned and walked off, Rory following.

The Doctor turned to Adelaide. "Do you know what's going on yet?"

"Narrowing it down." She glanced at him. "Did you really think she was about to give birth?" the Doctor only shrugged. "Did you actually get any sort of degree, or did you just pick your title because you liked how it sounded?"

The Doctor didn't reply to her, just running forward, grabbing her hand, and pulling her towards the swing set just before Rory sat down, taking the swing from him. Adelaide raised her eyebrows, but he didn't move. "Now, we all know there's an elephant in the room."

Amy frowned. "I have to be this size, I'm having a baby."

"No, no. The hormones seem real, but no. Is nobody going to mention Rory's ponytail?" he grinned widely. "You hold him down, I'll cut it off?"

Rory scoffed. "This from the man in the bow-tie."

"Bow-ties are cool." The Doctor stood, pointing towards the ruins. "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't hire Mrs. Poggit as a babysitter."

Adelaide turned to follow his gaze, spotting Mrs. Poggit staring at the children hungrily. "What's she doing?"

But then the birdsong began again.

"Oh, no," Amy sighed. "Here we go."

|C-S|

The humans stepped up to the Time Lords, rubbing their arms against the cold. "It's really cold. Have you got any warm clothing?"

"What does it matter if we're cold? We have to know what she is up to." The Doctor looked to the side to Adelaide, pausing. "Sorry." He took a breath, nodding to the side. "There should be some stuff down there. Have a look."

Amy and Rory vanished down the stairs, and the Doctor ducked under the console, only to emerge a few seconds later with some sort of jury-rigged contraption. He held up a finger to Adelaide. "It's a generator."

She nodded. "I can guess that, Doctor. We did both attend the same Academy."

He paused. "Prydonian?"

"Student and then professor."

His eyes widened. "You were a professor?"

Adelaide just shrugged. "I needed something to fill my time with until I was approved to travel."

The Doctor seemed shocked by that concept and he was still staring at her when Amy and Rory reappeared. That seemed to shock him out of his slight trance because he turned to Rory and practically shoved his device into the human's hands. "Rory, wind." Then he turned, holding out the end of a wire to Amy. "Amy, could you attach this to the monitor." He paused. "Please."

The Doctor would never admit it, but when Adelaide gave him an approving nod he felt like the universe had brightened ever so slightly.

Rory sighed, looking down at the device in his hands. "I was promised amazing worlds. Instead I get duff central heating and a weird, kitchen wind-up device."

"It's a generator," Adelaide corrected. "Wind?"

"Not enough," Amy called.

"Please, Rory."

"Why is the Dream Lord picking on you?" Rory turned the crank. "Why us?"

Slowly, the scanner flickered to light, and the Time Lords leapt to look at it before they fell back, some combination of amazed and horrified. Amy looked between them. "Where are we?"

"We're in trouble."

"What is that?"

"A cold star," Adelaide breathed.

The Doctor ran to the doors and flung them open, stepping to the side slightly so Adelaide could still see out from her position by the console. "That's why we're freezing. It's not a heating malfunction. We're drifting towards a cold sun. There's our deadly danger for this version of reality."

"So this must be a dream," Amy nodded. "There's no such thing as a cold star. Stars burn."

"So's this one. It's just burning cold."

Rory frowned. "Is that possible?"

The Doctor spun to Adelaide, who was staring at the screen. She had never encountered a cold star and every single fact she knew about stars told her that no, stars could not burn cold, nuclear fusion did not just go cold. Of course, there were some stars that were 'cold' relative to others, but nowhere near the extent that was happening here. "I've never seen this before…" she began, slowly. It would be a terrible plan to put something so completely impossible in a game meant to confuse them about what reality was, but if even one of her guesses about who the Dream Lord actually was ended up being true…it would be entirely in that man's nature to present a problem that he didn't know the answer to and make them doubt that everything they'd previously known.

A problem they couldn't run from for the man who just kept running.

"So does that mean this is the dream?" Rory asked.

Adelaide shook her head. It wouldn't be this obvious, it couldn't be. Unless… "No matter what, we have almost fourteen minutes until we crash into it."

"But that's not a problem."

"Because you know how to get us out of this?"

"Because we'll have frozen to death by then."

Amy breathed deeply. "Oh, then what are we going to do?"

"Stay calm. Don't get sucked into it, because this just might be the battle we have to lose."

Rory shook his head, frowning. "Oh, this is so you, isn't it?"

The Doctor frowned. "What?"

"What? A weird new star, fourteen minutes left to live and only the two of you to save the day? I just wanted a nice village and a family."

"Oh dear, Doctor," the Dream Lord tsked, appearing behind the Doctor. "Dissent in the ranks." He grinned. "There was an old doctor from Gallifrey, who ended up throwing his life away. He let down his friends and…" the birdsong began again. "Oh, no. We've run out of time. Don't spend too long there, or you'll catch your death here."

 **A/N: A few Dream Lord taunts here, but some of the things he says next chapter really reveal certain things about our lovely Time Lady.**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _Gammily: Including it made me quite happy :)_

 _flowerangel502: Adelaide will have some experience with various species the Time Lords encounter throughout their adventures. After all, she was jumping around the universe quite a bit too ;)_

 _ShadowTeir: Not quite Caroline here, sadly, but I do like that idea. Maybe a oneshot in the future?_


	14. Reality

**Reality**

That time, they noticed the missing people the moment they woke.

"Where have the children gone?" the Doctor asked, running up to where the children had been playing, because there was no one, not a single soul, in sight.

Rory shrugged. "Don't know. Playtime's probably over." He turned to Amy as Adelaide bent down beside one of the dust piles, scanning it with her sonic. "You see, this is the real one. I just feel it. Don't you feel it?"

"I feel it both places."

"I feel it here. It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here."

"Not really me, though, is it?" Amy shrugged. "I mean, would I be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops, and a really bad Amateur Dramatics Society? That's why I got pregnant, so I don't have to see them doing Oklahoma." She sighed, looking down at the Time Lords, who were crouched on either side of the same pile, looking between each other and it. "What are you doing? And what are those piles of dust?"

"Playtime's definitely over."

Amy's eyes widened, finally putting it together. "Oh my God."

"What happened to them?"

The Time Lords looked up at the few elderly people walking down the street. "I think they did." They walked back down to the path.

"They're just old people."

"No, they're very old people." The Doctor eyed them. "Sorry, Rory, I don't think you're what's been keeping them alive."

The elderly lined the path and the Dream Lord appeared to the side. "Hello, peasants. What's this, attack of the old people? Oh, that's ridiculous. This has got to be the dream, hasn't it? What do you think, Amy? Let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the TARDIS." He looked at Amy. "You first."

"Leave her alone."

The Dream Lord laughed. "Do that again. I love it when he does that. Tall dark hero, 'leave her alone'. Don't you just love that Adelaide?"

Adelaide glared at him. "Shut it."

"Ooh, Adelaide's being feisty. This must be the dream."

"I said, shut up."

He smirked. "Must feel left out though, don't you? All that dark hair." He reached out but, thankfully, his hand just fazed through her. "Loves a redhead, the Doctor." He winked at Amy. "Remember Elizabeth the First?" He shrugged. "Well, she thought she was the first."

The Doctor glared at him. "Drop it. Drop all of it."

"Oh, protective of the protector."

"I know who you are," Adelaide said, and the Dream Lord laughed.

"Course you don't."

"I'm a scientist. I make observations, I make connections. I know exactly what you are." Technically, she had two guesses, but the Dream Lord didn't need to know that.

The Dream Lord just shrugged. "Never mind me. Maybe you should worry about them." He nodded towards the elderly before vanishing.

They were advancing.

"Hi…" Rory tried.

"Hello, we were wondering where you went." The Doctor stepped back. "To get reinforcements, by the look of it. Are you alright? You look a bit tense."

Rory smiled. "Hello, Mr. Nainby."

Adelaide grabbed his arm. "Rory, don't."

"Mr. Nainby ran the sweet shop. He used to slip me the odd free toffee." Mr. Nainby grabbed him by the collar and lifted him into the air with one hand. "Did I not say thank you?" he threw Rory backward into the mud by the swings. "How did he do that?"

"My guess?" Adelaide said, pulling the Doctor back now. "There's a parasitic alien race inside them keeping the elderly alive."

The Doctor nodded. "Don't get comfortable here. You may have to run, fast."

"Can't we just talk to them?" Amy tried, but then green eyes stuck out of all of their mouths. "There is an eye in her mouth."

Adelaide nodded, the Doctor scanning them beside her. "The creature has been living there for years, by my guess." The Doctor's nod confirmed it.

Rory grimaced. "That is disgusting. They're not going to be peeping out of anywhere else, are they?"

Mrs. Poggit leaned forward and breathed a cloud of green gas at them. "Run!" the time travelers ran for a bit until the Doctor and Adelaide thought it was a far enough distance that they could turn back around to try and talk to the creatures. "Okay, leave them, leave them. Talk to us. Talk to us."

"You're Eknodines," Adelaide said. "A proud, ancient race. I visited you once, long ago. Why are you hiding here?"

"We were driven from our pl…"

"…planet by upstart neighbors," the Doctor finished.

"So we've…"

"…been living here inside the bodies of old humans for years," Adelaide did the same.

The Doctor nodded. "No wonder they live so long. You're keeping them alive."

"We were humbled and destroyed. Now we will do the same to others."

Adelaide shrugged. "Very possible. More realistic than a cold star."

A paperboy rode past on a bicycle, nodding to the Doctor. "Morning."

Mrs. Poggit turned and breathed on him, turning the man to dust.

"You need to leave this planet." The Doctor clenched his fists and Adelaide wondered how many other great alien races she would encounter with the Doctor who'd fallen so far.

The Eknodines made it very clear that they were not going to do as he'd said when they breathed the gas cloud and forced the Time Lords to turn and run, though Adelaide did have to grab the Doctor's hand to force him to actually run.

And then the birdsong began.

Immediately, the Time Lords began searching for anywhere they could go, anywhere they could be somewhat safe as they returned to a TARDIS that was crashing into a possibly impossible cold star. The Doctor was the one who picked the butcher's shop and Adelaide didn't have much strength to stop him because she was already nearly falling to the ground.

They had just managed to lock the door when the Dream Lord appeared behind them. "Oh, I love a good butcher's don't you? We've got to use these places or they'll shut down. But you're probably a vegetarian, aren't you, you big flop-haired wuss."

The Doctor scowled at the Dream Lord. "Oh, pipe down. I'm busy."

"Oh, Adelaide's so tired she hasn't bothered correcting you," the Dream Lord chuckled. "Maybe the two of you need a little sleep." The song got louder and the Doctor fell in the middle of the small corridor, while Adelaide slid down the wall. "Oh, wait a moment. If you fall asleep here, several dozen angry pensioners will destroy the two of you with their horrible eye things." The Doctor pushed himself up, hands over his ears, as Adelaide dragged herself behind the counter. "Fingers in the ear. Brilliant. What's next, shouting boo?" the elderly pushed themselves in. "Come in, come in. Yes, we've got lots at steak here this week. Lots at steak, get it?" they managed to reach the freezer door, Adelaide falling to the ground inside, but the Doctor stumbled against the doorway. "Are these jokes wasted on you?"

The Doctor held out a hand. "Wait, wait, stop."

"Oh, oh, I can't watch."

Adelaide reached past the Doctor, just as he entered the freezer, to sonic the door shut, trapping them inside.

|C-S|

When the Time Lords woke, the humans were already inside the TARDIS, pulling their blankets tight around them. "Ah, it's colder," Amy said, shivering.

"The four of us have to agree, now, which is the dream," the Doctor said.

Rory nodded. "It's this, here."

Amy shrugged. "He could be right. The science is all wrong here. Burning ice?"

The humans looked at Adelaide, clearly trusting her opinion on the science of the situation more than they trusted the Doctor. But she could only shake her head. "It's a big universe…ice can burn."

"Sofas can read," the Doctor offered.

"It's a big universe."

The Time Lords turned to the humans. "We have to agree which battle to lose. All of us, now."

"Okay, which world do you think is real?"

"This one."

"No, the other one."

"Yeah, but are we disagreeing or competing?" the Doctor snapped slightly, but he calmed when Adelaide touched his arm.

Amy frowned. "Competing? Over what?" it took another moment for her to realize, and Amy when she did she stood and walked over to the other side of the console, grabbing more blankets. Adelaide watched her leave, but she was too busy trying to decide between the two options of who the Dream Lord could be to worry about Amy.

The Doctor moved to the console. "Nine minutes till impact."

"What temperature is it?" Amy called.

"Outside?" the Doctor shrugged. "Brrr. How many noughts have you got? Inside? I don't know but I can't feel my feet and other parts." Adelaide gave enough attention to swat at the Doctor's legs, though he stepped out of reach.

"I think all my parts are basically fine," Rory said and Adelaide sighed.

"Now's not the time."

Rory picked up the TARDIS phone, offering it to the Time Lords. "Can't we call for help?"

"Yeah, because the universe is really small and there's bound to be someone nearby."

Amy walked up to them, throwing blankets with holes cut out at the three of them. "Put these on, you three."

Rory held it out. "Oh, a poncho. The biggest crime against fashion since lederhosen."

"Here we go." She walked up to Rory. "My boys and girl. My poncho gang. If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band."

"We're not going to die."

"No, we're not, but our time's running out. If we fall asleep here we're in trouble."

Adelaide shrugged. "If we could divide up, we'd have an active presence in each world."

"But the Dream Lord is switching us between the worlds." The Doctor frowned. "Why? Why? What's the logic?"

"Good idea, logic master," the Dream Lord said, appearing in a poncho. "Let's divide you four up, so I can have a little chat with our lovely companion." He looked towards Adelaide. "Or would you rather I stole your lovely little Time Lady?"

"Don't you dare," Adelaide glared, taking a step back. "I know who you are, so I would recommend you don't test me."

The Dream Lord giggled. "Oh, there's the Time Lady Gallifrey was hoping for. So commanding and powerful. Strong enough to bring down an army on the Daleks."

Adelaide clenched her fists. "Shut up."

He smirked and stepped back, closer to Amy. "Maybe I'll just keep the human, and you can have Pointy Nose and your precious Time Lady to yourself for all eternity," he shrugged, "should you manage to clamber aboard some sort of reality."

The birdsong began, but it was clear only the Doctor, Adelaide, and Rory could hear it. "Can you hear that?"

Amy shook her head. "What? No."

"Amy, don't be scared. We'll be back."

The Time Lords and human fell to the ground, asleep, the Time Lords finding a way to reach each other without even trying.

"Rory, Doctor, Adelaide, don't leave me," Amy tried.

"Amy, we're going to have fun, aren't we?" the Dream Lord smirked.

"No, please, not alone…"

|C-S|

The Time Lords woke in the freezer, the Doctor listening to the door since he was the closest. He flashed his sonic at the door. "Okay, where is it?" eventually, he hit the frequency, and with a final nod towards Adelaide he threw the door open, letting her shoot out the lights, and them push through the elderly and out into the street.

They hurried onto a different street where one of the old men was attempting to break into a bus, which had a man inside, desperately trying to close the door. "Oh help, somebody."

The Doctor shook his head. "Oh, you couldn't live near the shops, could you?" they hurried to the bus and shoved the old man aside, not even fighting over who would get to drive. "It's okay, it's only us."

He drove through the village until they reached two young women, slowing to let them climb inside. "Get in, get in, get in. Quickly, quickly, over here. Quickly, get in." Two women ran up to the car. "Come on, jump in. Quickly, get in no. Quickly. Hurry up. Are we in?" then they arrived at a house with a family cowering inside. "Come on, let's go." The family leapt inside. "All four, quick. Everyone in?"

And then they were off again.

Adelaide knew that it didn't matter who they saved, but she knew the Doctor wouldn't care, he wouldn't be able to help himself.

|C-S|

Amy sat alone on the steps of the TARDIS, looking down at the sleeping bodies of the Time Lords and Rory. She couldn't stop staring at the Doctor and Adelaide especially, because somehow when they'd fallen, they'd held hands.

That had happened the last time they'd fallen asleep in the TARDIS together, she'd seen it.

"Poor Amy," the Dream Lord pouted. "He always leaves you, doesn't he? Alone in the dark. Never apologizes."

"He doesn't have to."

"That's good, because he never will. Not even Adelaide can make him. And now he's left you with me. Spooky old, not to be trusted me." He appeared in a chair, lounging, dressed in a robe. "Anything could happen."

Amy stood, taking a few steps away before speaking. "Who are you, and what do you want? Adelaide knows who you are, she's probably told the Doctor, but they're not telling me who you are. And he always does. Takes him a while sometimes, but he tells me. So you're something different."

"Oh, is that who you think you are?" he laughed. "The one he trusts?"

"Actually, yes."

"The only girl in the universe to whom the Doctor tells everything?"

"Yes."

"So what's his name?" He smirked, knowing she couldn't have the answer, and reappeared, dressed in his tweed, between the Time Lords. "You look at these two and honestly think you're the one the Doctor trusts?" he gestured towards their clasped hands. "You, over the last Time Lady in the universe, over the woman he'd give all his lives to protect?"

Amy swallowed, but she couldn't say anything.

"Do you really think you're worth anything to him?"

"Shut up."

He grinned and ignored her. "Now, which one of these men would you really choose?" he gestured to the pair. "Look at them. You ran away with a handsome hero. Would you really give him up for a bumbling country doctor who thinks the only thing he needs to be interesting is a ponytail?"

"Stop it."

"But maybe it's better than loving and losing the Doctor. Pick a world, and this nightmare will all be over. They'll listen to you. Adelaide might not, but those two will. It's you they're waiting for. Amy's men. Amy's choice."

And then he vanished, leaving Amy to stare down at her two options and know that one thing could never happen.

|C-S|

The Time Lords drove up to a church, letting all of the humans out. "Everybody, out, out, out. Into the church, that's right. Don't answer the door." Once they were all gone, the Doctor turned the bus back towards Amy's home.

The Dream Lord appeared in the backseat, dressed in some sort of racing uniform. "It's make your mind up time in both worlds."

"Fine. We need to find our friends."

The Dream Lord raised his eyebrows. "Friends? Is that the right word for the people you acquire? Friends are people you stay in touch with. Your friends never see you again once they've grown up." He turned to Adelaide. "And you know all about that, don't you, Adelaide? Exactly what it feels like to be abandoned by the Doctor. The old man prefers the company of the young, does he not?"

He vanished again and Adelaide touched the Doctor's arm as they pulled up to the humans' cottage. It wasn't because the building was being attacked by the elderly. "Do you want me to tell you which world is real?"

The Doctor clenched his jaw. "Do you know?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I wasn't lying. I know who the Dream Lord is."

He nodded. "Okay."

|C-S|

Amy woke in Rory's arms as they sat in the nursery, startled. "How did I get up here?"

"I carried you. I'm afraid you may experience some bruising."

"Where's the Doctor and Adelaide?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I want to do something for you." He turned and grabbed a pair of scissors, cutting off his pony tail.

Amy frowned. "I was starting to like it."

There was a creaking from the window and they turned in alarm, but it was only the Time Lords climbing inside, the Doctor helping Adelaide in before falling inside himself. "Sorry. We had to stop off at the butcher's."

"Why are we going to do?"

"I don't know." Adelaide spoke far quicker than normal, but the humans honestly didn't notice because Amy had grabbed her stomach.

"Oh! I think the baby's starting."

Rory turned to her. "Honestly?"

"Would I make it up at a time like this?"

He shrugged. "Well, you do have a history of…" Amy glared at him "being very lovely." Amy grimaced from the pain, and Rory turned to the Time Lords. "Why are they so desperate to kill us?"

"They're scared."

Adelaide nodded. "Fear generates savagery." At least they weren't on a bus this time.

Something was thrown through the window and Rory leapt up to look at it, but before he got far Mrs. Poggit appeared, breathing the green cloud at him. Rory fell back with a groan, Amy hurrying to his side, as the Doctor hit back Mrs. Poggit.

Rory held up his hand, watching it turn to dust. "I'm not ready."

"Stay," Amy begged.

But there was nothing hoping could do to keep him alive. "Look after our baby." And then he was dust.

Amy shook her head. "No. No. Come back." She was shaking, crying, because Rory was gone and she didn't want to live anymore. "Save him," she turned to the Time Lords, who were standing side by side, watching. "You save everyone. You always do. It's what you do."

The Doctor's jaw clenched and he shook his head. "Not always. I'm sorry."

"Then what is the point of you?" she snapped, turning back to the pile of dust, touching it gently. She took a deep breath and stood. "This is the dream. Definitely this one. Now, if we die here, we wake up, yeah?"

Adelaide nodded. "Unless we just die."

"Either way, this is my only chance of seeing him again. This is the dream."

"How do you know?"

Amy swallowed hard. "Because if this is real life, I don't want it." She shook her head. "I don't want it." She turned and lead the way out of the home and the Time Lords didn't fight her. As they exited the home, the elderly just stood watching them. "Why aren't they attacking?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Either because this is just a dream or because they know what we're about to do." Amy held out her hand for the bus key. "Be very sure. This could be the real world."

She shook her head. "It can't be. Rory isn't here. I didn't know. I didn't, I didn't, I honestly didn't, till right now. I just want him."

The Doctor nodded. "Okay. Okay." He handed her the keys and let her walk to the driver's seat, the Time Lords sitting in the back.

Amy gripped the wheel. "I love Rory, and I never told him, but now he's gone." She slammed her foot on the gas and drove straight at the front door of her home.

|C-S|

Everything was covered with ice when they woke and the Time Lords took a moment to hold hands, gripping each other, as Amy reached towards Rory.

"So, you chose this world," the Dream Lord said, clapping his hands. "Well done. You got it right. And with only seconds left. Fair's fair. Let's warm you up." He walked up to the TARDIS and turned back on the power. "I hope you've enjoyed your little fictions. It all came out of your imagination, so I'll leave you to ponder on that. I have been defeated. I shall withdraw. Farewell." He vanished and the Time Lords stood.

"Something happened," Rory said. "I…what happened to me? I…" Amy hugged him tightly. "Oh. Oh, right. This is good. I am liking this. Was it something I said? Could you tell me what it was so I can use it in emergencies, and maybe birthdays."

The humans turned to the Time Lords when they heard a whirring sound. "What are we doing now?"

The Doctor glanced up. "Us? We're going to blow up the TARDIS."

"What?"

Adelaide paused, letting the Doctor take control of the TARDIS. "Did you notice how helpful the Dream Lord was?" She shrugged. "Of course, there was quite a bit of misinformation, red herrings, malice, and that limerick was just annoying, but he was always very careful to force us to choose between dream and reality."

Amy shook her head. "What are you doing?"

"Doctor, Adelaide, the Dream Lord conceded. This isn't a dream."

"Yes, it is."

"Stop!"

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "Star burning cold? Really? Don't tell me you were actually simple enough to believe that." She turned to press something on the console. "Would a Dream Lord have any power over the real world?" She didn't wait for an answer. "He was making us choose between two dreams."

"How do you know that?"

"Because we know who he is."

And the TARDIS exploded.

|C-S|

The Doctor and Adelaide leaned against the console, their arms touching as they looked at something in the Doctor's hand.

"Any questions?" the Doctor called as Amy and Rory climbed the stairs towards them.

Amy eyed what he was holding. "Er, what's that?"

"A speck of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava," Adelaide explained. "Probably been in the TARDIS for years and just fell into the time rotor."

"Heated up and induced a dream state for all of us" The Doctor walked back towards the door of the TARDIS, blowing the specks out into space.

"So that was the Dream Lord then? Those little specks."

The Doctor shook his head. "No, no. No. Sorry, wasn't it obvious?"

"The Dream Lord was him," Adelaide pointed towards him. "Psychic pollen, a mind parasite. Feeds on everything dark in you, gives it a voice, turns it against you."

"I'm nine hundred and seven. It had a lot to go on."

Amy frowned. "Why not Adelaide?"

She just shrugged. "Chance? It certainly fed on me a bit," she didn't look at the Doctor, "it knew certain things I've never told the Doctor."

"Why didn't it feed on us then?"

The Doctor laughed. "The darkness in you pair, it would've starved to death in an instant. I choose my friends with great care. Otherwise, I'm stuck with my own company, and you know how that works out." He glanced at Adelaide, and she could only nod.

Yes, she remembered exactly what would happen if the Doctor was left alone.

"But those things he said about the two of you. You don't think any of that's true?"

The Doctor leaned back against the TARDIS console. "Amy, right now a question is about to occur to Rory. And seeing as the answer is about to change his life, I think you should give him your full attention."

Rory nodded. "Yeah. Actually, yeah."

"There it is."

Adelaide grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him back, letting the humans speak alone for a moment. She had a guess that the Doctor would have at least one question for her and she was right.

"Was he telling the truth? About the Daleks and an army?"

Adelaide glanced towards the humans. "How much do you really want me to tell the truth?"

"Please."

She stepped slightly closer, not wanting to have to say it too loudly because even if the humans wouldn't understand what she was talking about she preferred them not to have to hear it. "You know I traveled the universe. You know the Time Lords were desperate to win the Time War. You can assume that quite a few alien races were indebted to me."

She let him put the rest of the pieces together.

The Doctor's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "You…"

"No. I didn't." She gripped the console. "You know that I ran from Gallifrey and hid. And now you know why."

The Time Lords had wanted her to sacrifice other species for the sake of the Time Lords. They'd wanted her to betray their trust and force races into the Last Great Time War.

So she'd refused.

The Doctor didn't get a chance to say anything because Amy and Rory were kissing and he took the chance to be 'distracted'. He swallowed hard. "So, well then, where now? Or should we just pop down to the swimming pool for a few lengths?" Or just to a separate room so that Adelaide would have a chance to fully explain herself without worrying about the humans anywhere nearby.

Rory shrugged. "I don't know. Anywhere's good for me. I'm happy anywhere. It's up to Amy this time. Amy's choice."

|C-S|

However, Adelaide didn't have long to wait before she and the Doctor sat down and discussed her role in the war. They ended up underneath the console with the Doctor sitting on his small swing and Adelaide leaning against a pillar. She already knew his role in the final war, but this was the first time she would speak of what the Time Lords had asked her to do. The first time she was really acknowledging it.

"It was the beginning of the war. Before it had gotten far. Before the war you knew started. The Time Lords wanted to win as soon as they could, understandably. So as soon as they could, they forced me to remain on Gallifrey. They said it was for my safety, but looking back...they didn't want to give me a chance to run away.

"The Lord President himself asked me to use my influence to help. He asked me to make an army to fight Gallifrey's war for him. I refused. He asked the General to make me make an army. I refused."

The Doctor nodded. "And the Master?"

"Because they couldn't force me, they wanted to create the perfect warrior to lead the army, even if it wasn't the one I could bring. But he saw what was happening and got scared. I learned of his existence, but I didn't know anything else about him. All I knew was that he wanted to escape the war.

"We managed to get access to my TARDIS and away from Gallifrey, and then he had the idea to hide. To become human. It was my idea to separate each other so that we would be harder to find. He went to the end of the universe because he'd be more likely to be able to find a method of time travel of his own, and I went to early 21st century earth, as you know, with my TARDIS. The plan was that if either of us opened our watches we would go find the other and help them open their watch. But my TARDIS was damaged, so I didn't land exactly when I was meant to. Thus, when the Master stole your TARDIS" the Doctor had mentioned it vaguely to her and Donna, especially after meeting Martha "he wasn't able to find me when he went back."

The Doctor was quiet for a time. "Do you regret it?"

Did she regret abandoning the war because she honestly never thought it would get as bad as it did? Did she regret attempting to spare entire planets from the bloodshed of a Time War? "No."

 **A/N: Adelaide has finally told the Doctor about her role in the war. A good step for the Time Lords who have a distinct issue with communication.**

 **So sorry I didn't post anything last week; got totally distracted and completely forgot to post anything.**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: We shall see eventually what happens with Adelaide/Amy and the Silence ;)_

 _flowerangel502: That is a really surprisingly accurate guess, good job! :)_

 _AxidentlGoddess: We have a bit of explanation on how Adelaide knew the Master here, but there is a future scene set in the Academy between the Doctor and Adelaide. If people like it when we get to it, I might find a way to include more ;)_

 _ShadowTeir: Definitely will, if I end up having time to do it! :)_


	15. Beneath the Earth

**Beneath the Earth**

The Doctor may have told Amy that he was going to let her choose, but, really, he'd gone to Adelaide. Amy could believe that he was literally just that terrible at piloting a TARDIS, but he wouldn't be able to fool Adelaide enough that she'd actually believe that for an extended period of time.

She knew that there was no possible way a Time Lord who'd spent as long as he had traveling the universe would actually be that bad at piloting his own TARDIS.

So as Amy dragged Rory off to choose her clothing for the supposed trip to Rio, the Doctor turned to Adelaide and asked her if she had any preference about where they went. Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "Are you being serious?"

"Yes." As serious as he had been when he'd asked her officially to travel in the TARDIS with him. The Doctor wanted Adelaide to stay, he wanted her to be able to pick where they brought the TARDIS because he knew that, if she really wanted to, she could leave him.

There were other methods of time travel, she could even steal his TARDIS if she really wanted to.

Adelaide leaned back against the console, arms crossed. "I want something strange."

"Strange?"

She shrugged. "That's what I would tend to look for when I was traveling. Just something strange, abnormal."

"Well then," he flicked a lever, "strange it is!"

And it was strange.

They'd landed in a graveyard.

"Behold, Rio!" the Doctor cheered, throwing open the doors. He was a bit surprised that Adelaide had never commented that it wasn't polite to tell Amy they were going to Rio when they actually weren't, but he had a feeling she still didn't like Amy, even if the woman had now realized that Rory was the one she really wanted.

Amy stepped out after the Time Lord. "Nah."

"Not really getting the sunshine carnival vibe."

The Doctor, on the other hand, turned to Adelaide. "Ooo, feel that? What's that?" He jumped up and down. "Ground feels weird."

Adelaide grinned. "Now, that's strange."

Rory frowned. "What's strange?"

Amy crossed her arms. "Doctor, Adelaide, stop trying to distract us. We're in the wrong place." The Time Lords, without even needing to discuss it, began walking closer to a church. "Doctor, it's freezing and I've dressed for Rio. We're not stopping here." The Time Lords crouched beside a bit of grass. "Doctor. You listening to me? It's a graveyard. You promised me a beach!"

Adelaide plucked some of the grass, rubbing it between her fingers. "Blue grass. There are patches of it all around the graveyard."

The Doctor stood. "So, Earth, 2020-ish, ten years in your future, wrong continent for Rio, I'll admit, but it's not a massive overshoot."

"Why are those people waving at us?" Amy frowned, spotting two people in the distance.

The Time Lords walked over, the Doctor pulling out a pair of binoculars. "Can't be…" he breathed.

Rory started to wave, but Amy stopped him. "Don't."

"It is. It's you two."

"No, we're here. How can we be up there?"

Adelaide shrugged. "Ten years in your future. Humans are nostalgic, probably wanted to relive past glories."

"We're still together in ten years?"

Rory frowned. "No need to sound so surprised."

Amy turned to him, not really seeming to have heard him. "Hey, let's go and talk to them. We can say hi to future us. How cool is that?" She grabbed Rory's arm and began to pull him towards their future selves.

The Doctor stopped them before they got far. "Er, no, best not. Really, best not. These things get complicated very quickly, and…oh, look!" he pointed towards a large drill. "Big mining thing. Oh, I love a big mining thing. See, way better than Rio. Rio doesn't have a big mining thing." He glanced at Adelaide, puffing his chest out slightly when he saw her pleased expression.

"We're not going to have a look, are we?" Amy sighed.

"Let's go and have a look," Adelaide said, stepping forward, taking the Doctor's hand, and leading him down the hill towards the drill in the distance.

They were almost at the bottom when they heard Amy calling. "Doctor! Adelaide!"

They glanced over their shoulder. They could just see Rory hurrying back towards the TARDIS.

"Where's he off to?" Adelaide mumbled, just loud enough for the Doctor to hear, though he was wondering the same thing, before continuing to the gates of the drill…and they were locked.

"Restricted access. No unauthorized personnel. Hmm." The Doctor soniced the lock, making it spark and break off. Adelaide sighed.

"That is breaking and entering," Amy said.

The Doctor shrugged. "What did I break? Sonicking and entering. Totally different."

Adelaide shook her head. "No, Doctor, it's not."

Amy shook her head, pushing open the gate. "Come on, then."

Before the Doctor followed, he glanced behind them. "You're sure Rory'll catch us up?"

|C-S|

Thankfully, this time, when Adelaide attempted to direct them through the halls, the Doctor actually let her lead. She'd been in a few drill sites before; not necessarily a human one from this century, but similar enough ones that she actually knew where she was going.

"What about now?" the Doctor asked Amy. "Can you feel it now?"

"Honestly, I've got no idea what you're on about."

"The ground feels strange," Adelaide reminded her.

"It's ten years in the future. Maybe how this ground feels is how it always feels."

"Good thought, but no, it doesn't."

Adelaide held up a finger. "Hear that?" there was a whirring sound. "A drill in start-up mode. Afterwaves of a recent seismological shift."

"And blue grass." He pulled a few bits of the grass from his pocket, taking a bite.

Amy grimaced. "Oh, please. Have you always been this disgusting?"

"No, that's recent."

"Are you stretching the definition of recent?" He turned to her. "Your last regeneration is counting as recent now?"

The Doctor paused for a moment. "Okay, maybe not so recent." He spied something over Adelaide's shoulder. "What's in here…hello!"

Adelaide stepped in after him to see a woman standing at a computer. "Who are you? What're you doing here?" she frowned at Amy. "And what are you wearing?"

"I dressed for Rio."

The Doctor held out his psychic paper. "Ministry of Drills, Earth, and Science. New Ministry, quite big, just merged. It's a lot of responsibility on our shoulders, don't like to talk about it. What are you doing?"

"None of your business."

"Where are you getting these readings from?" the Doctor moved towards the hole in the floor.

"Under the soil." The woman hurried over and moved a bit of equipment away from the Doctor's reach.

"The drill's up and running again," a man said, hurrying in, though he froze when he saw the three strangers. "What's going on? Who are these people?"

"Amy, Adelaide, the Doctor," Amy pointed to each of them. "We're not staying, are we, Doctor?"

Adelaide and the Doctor didn't answer her as the Time Lady turned to the woman. "Why is there a patch of earth in the middle of your floor?"

She shrugged. "We don't know. It just appeared overnight."

"Good. Right. You all need to get out of here very fast."

"Why?"

"What's your name?"

"Nasreen Chaudhry."

Adelaide pointed to the screen Nasreen had been looking at. "Look at your readings. It's moving."

"Hey, that's specialized equipment," the man called, hurrying over. "Get away from it."

"What is?"

"Doctor," Amy called, knelt by the hole, "this steam, is that a good thing?"

He just shrugged. "Shouldn't think so."

"It's shifting when it shouldn't be shifting," Adelaide agreed.

"What shouldn't?"

There was a loud rumble and the ground began to shake. "The ground, the soil, the earth, moving. But how? Why?"

"Earthquake?" Amy offered.

"What's going on?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Doubt it, because it's only happening under this room." The room shook even more violently as holes began to appear around the floor. "It knows we're here. It's attacking. The ground's attacking us!"

Nasreen shook her head. "No, no, that's not possible."

"Under the circumstances, I'd suggest, run!" the Doctor pushed Nasreen forward to force her to move, grabbing Adelaide's hand as soon as he could. They all ran towards the door, mostly managing to avoid the holes, but the man who'd arrived managed to get his foot trapped.

"Tony!"

"Stay back, Amy! Stay away from the earth!"

Amy didn't listen and leapt over to Tony's side. "It's okay," she tried to help him, but then a hole opened under Amy's feet. "It's pulling me down!"

"Amy!" the Doctor ran towards Amy, leaving Adelaide to ensure Nasreen stayed safe.

"Doctor, help me. Something's got me. Doctor, the ground's got my legs."

The Doctor grabbed Amy's arms, falling to his stomach as Amy sunk to her chest. Together, Adelaide and Nasreen pulled Mack free. "Shut down the drill," Adelaide ordered the humans, shoving them. "Now!" Thankfully, they did as she asked.

"I've got you," the Doctor told Amy.

"Okay. Don't let go."

"Never."

"Doctor, what is it, and why is it doing this?"

"Stay calm, keep hold of my hand, don't let go."

Amy glanced at Adelaide over the Doctor's shoulder. "Can you get me out?"

"If you struggle, it'll make things worse. Just stay calm."

"Keep hold of my hand. I'm not going to let you go."

But despite the Doctor's efforts, Amy sunk even further into the earth. "Doctor, it's pulling me down. Something's pulling me."

"They're trying to shut down the drill," Adelaide said. "Just hold on."

"I can't hold on! What's pulling me? What is under the earth? I don't what to suffocate under there."

"Amy, concentrate. Don't you give up."

"Tell Rory…" but Amy was cut off as she sunk into the earth.

"No. Amy! Amy, no!" He dug through the earth frantically, trying to find her, needing to save her. "No! No! No! No! No. No!" he pulled out his sonic. "No. No. No. No." There was nothing he could do. Carefully, Adelaide stepped forward and touched the Doctor's shoulder.

"Where is she?" Nasreen said, running in.

"She's gone. The ground took her."

"Is that what happened to Mo?" Mack asked. "Are they dead?"

Adelaide bent down and touched the dirt before pulling the Doctor standing with her. "It's not quicksand, they didn't sink. Something pulled them in. Something wanted them."

Nasreen frowned. "The ground wanted them?"

"You said the ground was dormant," the Doctor turned to her. "Just a patch of earth, when you first saw it this morning. And the drill had been stopped."

"That's right."

"But when you re-started the drill, the ground fought back."

"So what, the ground wants to stop us drilling?" Nasreen scoffed. "Doctor, that is ridiculous."

Adelaide frowned at her. "It's not ridiculous, it's just stupid." She turned to the Doctor. "It's bio-programming." His eyes widened.

"What?"

"Bio-programming," the Doctor whispered. "Oh, it's clever. You use bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects."

Adelaide nodded. "It's used mainly on jungle planets for engineering and construction." She paused. "But not here. What's it doing here?"

"Sorry, did you just say jungle planets?"

"You're not making any sense!"

This time it was the Doctor's turn to be offended. "Excuse me, she's making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." Adelaide didn't even need to say anything. "Sorry. The earth, the ground beneath our feet, was bio-programmed to attack."

"Yeah, even if that were possible, which, by the way, it's not, why?"

"Stop you drilling. Okay, so we need to find whatever's doing the bio-programming, we can find Amy. We can get her back." He paused. "Shush, shush, shush. Have I gone mad?" he shook his head. "I've gone mad."

"Doctor…"

Adelaide pointed at Nasreen, realizing what the Doctor could hear. "Absolute silence. You did stop the drill, like I said?"

"Yes."

"And you only have one drill?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely certain?"

"Yes."

"So, if you shut the drill down, why can we still hear drilling?" the Doctor fell to the ground, pressing his ear to the ground beside the hole. "It's under the ground."

Mack shook his head. "That's not possible."

Adelaide turned and soniced the computers as she walked over. "Oh no, what, what are you doing?" Nasreen said, following her.

"Hacking into your records. We need to see your data." She leaned closer, the Doctor coming up beside her. "So, we're here, and this is your drill," she pointed as she spoke. "21.009 kilometers."

"Well done."

"Thank you. It's taken us a long time."

"Why here, though? Why'd you drill on this site?"

"We found patches of grass in this area, containing trace minerals unseen in this country for twenty million years."

"The blue grass?" Nasreen nodded. "Oh, Nasreen. Those trace minerals weren't X marking the spot, saying dig here. They were a warning. Stay away. Because while you've been drilling down, someone else has been drilling up." As the Doctor spoke, Adelaide pulled up some of the sensor readings. "Oh, beautiful. Network of tunnels all the way down."

Mack shook his head. "No, no, we've surveyed that area."

"You only saw what you went looking for," Adelaide informed them.

"What are they?" Nasreen pointed at a cluster of lights.

"Heat signals. Wait, dual readings, hot and cold, doesn't make sense." Adelaide didn't correct the Doctor only because she was too busy focusing on the readings. "And now they're moving. Fast. How many people live nearby?"

"Just my daughter and her family. The rest of the staff travel in."

The Doctor grabbed a computer. "Grab this equipment and follow us."

"Why? What're we doing?"

Adelaide hurried to lead them out of the building. "That noise isn't a drill, it's transport. There are three of them, 30 kilometers down, and it looks like they're traveling at about 150 kilometers an hour. Should be here in 12 minutes. Do you want to meet what's bio-programmed the Earth?" she did, and she knew the Doctor did, but she had a strong suspicion that these humans wouldn't actually want to see that.

"How can something be coming up when there's only the Earth's crust down there?"

"You saw the readings," the Doctor called.

"Who are you, anyway? How can the two of you know all this?" there was a loud sound and red lightning flashed outside. "Whoa, did you see that?"

"No, no, no," the Doctor pulled a slingshot from his pocket and shot a rock up at the sky. There was a force field.

Adelaide pulled out her sonic and flashed it, making it visible for a few seconds. It covered the small village and the drill site. "Energy signal originating from under the Earth."

"We're trapped."

"Doctor, Adelaide!" Rory called, running up with a woman and young boy. "Something weird's going on here, the graves are eating people."

"Not now, Rory!" the Doctor turned to face Adelaide. "Energy barricade, invisible to the naked eye. We can't get out and no one from the outside world can get in."

"What?" Rory didn't seem to understand that there were, occasionally, times when Time Lords had no need for humans. "Okay, what about the TARDIS?"

"The what?"

"Those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits. With a bit of time, maybe, but we've only got…"

"Nine and a half minutes," Adelaide provided.

"Nine and a half minutes to what?"

"We're trapped," Nasreen said, "and something's burrowing towards the surface."

"Where's Amy?"

The Doctor grabbed a computer. "Get everyone inside the church!"

Adelaide turned to Rory. "We'll get her back."

His eyes widened. "What do you mean, get her back? Where's she gone?"

"We don't know. But she was taken into the Earth."

"How? Why didn't he stop it?" Rory pointed up towards the Doctor.

"He tried, Rory. He honestly tried."

"And why didn't you?"

Adelaide pointed at Mack and Nasreen. "Attempting to keep the two of them safe. Which is what you should also be helping with." She pointed at Rory, keeping him quiet. "I already have a guess about what is responsible, and while Amy is not perfectly safe, I am almost certain that she has not been killed."

That was a lie. But, thankfully, she had established herself as someone who tended to know what was happening before the Doctor and didn't lie. Rory didn't doubt her and he trusted her enough to not need to ask what was responsible.

Which was very good, since she didn't actually know. A few guesses, certainly, she always had a few guesses, but quite a few of them would have killed Amy on sight.

So she was hoping that it wasn't any of them.

|C-S|

The woman, named Ambrose, led the group of them into the church. Anyone carrying equipment began to set it up, Adelaide helping, while Rory stood to the side with Elliot, the child. "So we can't get out," Ambrose said, "we can't contact anyone, and something, the something that took my husband, is coming up through the Earth."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes. If we move quickly enough, we can be ready."

Ambrose shook her head. "No, stop. This has gone far enough. What is this?"

"He's telling the truth, love," Mack said.

"Come on. It's not the first time we've had no mobile or phone signals. Reception's always rubbish."

"Look, Ambrose," Nasreen cut in. "We saw the Doctor's friend get taken, okay? You saw the lightning in the sky. I have seen the impossible today, and the only people who've made any sense of it for me are Adelaide and the Doctor."

Ambrose pointed at them. "Them?"

"Us."

"Can you get my dad back?" Elliot called, and everyone turned to the Time Lords.

They didn't even need to look at each other. They had no idea what was happening, they had no idea if anything they did would do anything, but Time Lords, particularly the two of them, were quite good at thinking of plans on the spot, though the Doctor's always ended up being a bit more creative. "Yes. But we need you to trust us and do exactly as we say from this second onward, because we're running out of time."

Ambrose swallowed hard. "So tell us what to do."

"Thank you." The Doctor turned and pointed at Adelaide.

"We have eight minutes to set up a line of defense," she told everyone. "Bring us every phone, every camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find."

The group began to do as they said. "Every burglar alarm, every movement sensor, every security light. We need the whole area covered with sensors." The Time Lords hurried over to the screens, watching the heat signatures getting nearer. "Right, guys, we need to be ready for whatever's coming up." The Doctor glanced at Elliot. "We'll need a map of the village marking where the cameras are going."

"I can't do words. I'm dyslexic."

The Doctor shrugged. "Oh, that's all right, I can't make a decent meringue. Draw like your life depends on it, Elliot."

Elliot nodded and ran off. "Six minutes forty," Mack called, him and Nasreen walking in with armfuls of equipment before coming over to the Time Lords with an overlay of the village. "Works in quadrants. Every movement sensor and trip light we've got. If anything moves, we'll know."

The Doctor nodded, slapping the man's back. "Good lad." He turned to Adelaide, but she was already making her way outside, making him jog to keep up with her. They came across a Meals on Wheels van.

"Oi!" Ambrose called, hurrying over. "What're you doing?"

"Resources! Every little helps." The Doctor turned to the van. "Meals on Wheels. What've you got here, then, warmer in the front, refrigerated in the back."

"Bit chilly for a hideout, mind," Ambrose shrugged, dumping her armful of equipment in the front seat.

Adelaide frowned at her collection. Everything she had could be used as a weapon, that much was obvious. "Weapons?"

"Like you say, every little helps."

"No."

The Doctor nodded. "No weapons. It's not the way we do things."

Ambrose frowned. "You said we're supposed to be defending ourselves."

"Oh, Ambrose, you're better than this. I'm asking nicely. Put them away." Adelaide glanced at the Doctor as he spoke, working quite hard to hide her reaction to his statement.

 **A/N: Ooo, the fateful two parter has begun. What will happen to Adelaide as people are being sucked beneath the earth?**

 **On an unrelated sidenote, I recently posted the first chapter of a new Sherlock fanfic, Dead Can Dance. Please go read it, but be warned that there's a bit of cursing in it, so enter prepared.**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: Thought it was only time that the Time Lords have an actual talk about the whole affair._

 _ShadowTeir: So far, Adelaide never says precisely who she was, but there are many chances (and one scene in particular) eventually where you'll be able to infer which of the three she was :)_


	16. Precious

**Precious**

Together, the Time Lords turned away and walked back into the church just as the countdown reached 3:23. Elliot ran up to the two of them, holding out his map. "Look at that!" the Doctor cheered, grinning. "Perfect. Dyslexia never stopped Da Vinci or Einstein. It's not stopping you."

Elliot beamed. "I don't understand what you're going to do."

"Two phase plan," the Doctor began, turning to input something into the computer, leaving Adelaide to explain to Elliot.

"First, the sensors and cameras will tell us when something arrives. Second, if something does arrive, we'll use this to send a sonic pulse through the network of devices. All it's going to do is temporarily incapacitate whatever's out there."

Elliot nodded. "Knock 'em out. Cool."

The Doctor straightened. "Lovely place to grow up 'round here."

He shrugged. "Suppose. I want to live in a city one day. Soon as I'm old enough, I'll be off."

Both Time Lords nodded, but it was the Doctor who spoke first. "I was the same where I grew up."

"Did you get away?"

"Yeah."

"Do you ever miss it?"

Adelaide swallowed hard. "So much."

"Is it monsters coming? Have you met monsters before?"

"Yeah."

"You scared of them?"

The Doctor bent down so that he was closer to Elliot's height. "No, they're scared of me."

"Will you get my dad back?"

"No question."

Elliot smiled as the Doctor stood. "I left my headphones at home!" he turned and rushed off. Adelaide glanced at the clock. Only one minute.

"I'll call everyone back," Adelaide said, turning and heading to the graveyard, where Rory was working setting up a camera on a gravestone. "How are you?"

Rory looked up at the sky. "It's getting darker. How can it be getting dark so quickly?"

"They're shutting out the light within the barricade. Attempting to isolate us in the dark. Which means…" there was a loud rumble "it's here."

The two time travelers turned and hurried back to the church to find Ambrose attempting to get the door open. "I can't open it! It keeps sticking. The wood's warped."

Adelaide immediately began to help and she could hear the Doctor panicking inside. "Any time you want to help," she said to Rory, making him frown.

"Can't you sonic it?"

She sighed. "It doesn't do wood."

"That is rubbish!"

Adelaide shrugged. "I didn't design it!"

With Rory's help, they managed to force the door open, Adelaide running immediately to the Doctor. And it had nothing to do with her panic about being separated from him, of course not. She was only worried about whatever was coming up through the Earth. Nothing personal.

The ground was shaking even more, just like when the holes had first started appearing, and the various stacked objects began to tumble to the ground. "See if we can get a fix," the Doctor said, working on a computer…only for it to spark and the lights to go out.

"No power," Mack said.

"It's deliberate."

"What do we do now?"

"Nothing." The Doctor turned around as Mack turned on a torch. "We've got nothing. They sent an energy surge to wreck our systems."

"Is everyone okay?" Rory asked. "Is anyone hurt?"

"I'm fine," Nasreen said.

"Me too."

There was an even louder rumble. "What was that?"

"It's like the holes at the drill station," Mack said.

"Is this how they happened?"

The Doctor knelt down and listened to the ground. "It's coming through the final layer of Earth."

"What is?"

And then there was silence.

"The banging's stopped."

Ambrose turned around. "Where's Elliot? Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?"

The Time Lords didn't need to look at each other to know that they were having the exact same reaction. Adelaide had been planning on looking for him, on ensuring Elliot got into the room, but then the door hadn't opened and she'd been far too worried about reaching the Doctor. She'd forgotten the child. "We did."

"Where is he?"

Adelaide took a deep breath. "He said he was going to get headphones."

"And you let him go? He was out there on his own?"

"Mum!" they heard Elliot shout suddenly, pounding on the door. "Grandpa Tony! Let me in!"

Ambrose ran to the door. "Elliot!"

"Let me in!"

"He's out there!" Ambrose tried to get the door open, but it was stuck again. "Help me!"

"Open the door! Mum! There's something out here."

Everyone ran to the door to help. "Push, Elliot! Push, Elliot! Give it a shove!"

"Mum!" Elliot sounded frightened.

"Hurry up!"

"Mummy…" Elliot's voice fell and Adelaide had a terrifying feeling that she knew what had happened.

"Come on!" They finally shoved open the door, but Elliot wasn't there.

Ambrose ran out. "Elliot! Where is he? He was here. He was here! Elliot!" she ran into the graveyard.

Adelaide took a moment to think before running after Ambrose.

Her logic, which she normally relied on, was telling her that she should stay by the church with the Doctor because then they were safe and together. But it was also reminding her that she wanted to know what was out there, see if any of her suspicions were right. And what better way to do that then to run to see what was out there.

She'd done in on Gallifrey, run out to see the universe.

Sometimes, her logic could contradict herself.

"Adelaide!" the Doctor shouted, running after her.

But Adelaide barely heard him because by then she had already lost sight of Ambrose and Mack and she'd already gone too far from the church.

And then there was a sharp pain in her head and Adelaide saw nothing.

|C-S|

The Doctor was not ashamed to say he was panicking when he lost Adelaide.

All he could hear was Mack and Ambrose shouting and even though Adelaide was the only other Time Lord in the universe, it was too difficult to actually place her specifically on an entire planet.

So he was panicking.

"Dad!" Ambrose shouted, and the Doctor came upon them first.

"What happened?"

"My dad's hurt," she said, supporting him.

"Get him into the church now." The Doctor tried to look for Adelaide as Rory moved to help the humans. He could guess what had happened to her and he knew she was still alive, but that didn't stop him from panicking.

"Elliot's gone," Ambrose said. "They've killed him, haven't they?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. They've taken four people when they could've just killed them up here."

Everyone froze. "Four?" Rory said.

The Doctor had to swallow because his hearts were racing and he was terrified. "There's still hope, Ambrose. There is always hope."

"Then why have they taken him?"

"I don't know. I'll find Elliot, I promise." He took a deep breath. "But first I've got to stop this attack." Adelaide would have wanted that, it was the logical thing. Stop the attack and then save them. Focus on the many. Focus on the helpless. "Please, get inside the church."

Ambrose turned back to her father. "Come on, Dad."

Rory stepped up to the Doctor. "Is Adelaide actually gone?"

"I think so." He flexed his hands.

"What now?"

"We find them." He pulled a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and soniced them, detailing his plan to Rory as he worked. Rory rushed off to the Meals on Wheels van, while the Doctor listened for any sound in the bushes. Thankfully, there was one soon, and he looked for a heat signature. "Cold blood," he whispered. "I know who they are!" he turned and ran to the van, hitting the side as he whistled to signal Rory. He pulled a fire extinguisher from the front and, just as the reflection appeared in the window, turned and fired the extinguisher, freezing the creature. It screamed and Rory shoved it into the refrigerated back.

"We got it," Rory breathed.

"Defending the planet with Meals on Wheels," they turned to high-five, but both were distracted by another rumble.

"What was that?"

"Sounds like they're leaving."

"Without this one?" Rory gestured at the van as the sun reappeared through the force field. "Looks like we scared them off."

"I don't think so. Now both sides have hostages."

|C-S|

When Adelaide woke, she was locked in what she could only describe as a glass coffin. It took her a few moments to fully focus. She could still sense the Doctor somewhere else on Earth, but she had no way to place where he or she was.

"Hello?" she called, but she wasn't overly surprised to find there was no reply.

She looked down when gas began to enter the coffin, but she wasn't overly surprised when nothing happened.

If she had to guess, whoever had been burrowing through the Earth had been expecting a human or something with that biology. Not a Time Lady.

"Interesting," a figure said, drawing Adelaide's attention. Obviously a scientist. "You don't respond like the other one. Why is that?"

She didn't bless him with a response.

|C-S|

The Doctor and Rory moved towards the basement after checking that there were no other creatures wandering about. "So, I think I've met these creatures before, the Doctor said. "Different branch of the species, mind, but all the same. Let's see if our friend's thawed out."

"Are you sure? By yourself?"

He nodded. "Very sure."

"But the sting?"

"Venom gland takes at least 24 hours to recharge." He turned and looked down at the creature. "Am I right?" There was no response, but he looked back to Rory. "I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine." Rory nodded and left.

The creature was a female, obviously reptilian, with a metal mask and a type of chainmail, like a warrior. Slowly, she moved out of the shadows, making the chains the Doctor was now thankful he'd decided to add rattle.

He held up his hands to show her that he had no intention to hurt her. "I'm the Doctor. I've come to talk. I'm going to remove your mask." He did so carefully. "You are beautiful. Remnant of a bygone age on planet Earth. And by the way, lovely mode of travel. Geothermal currents projecting you up through a network of tunnels. Gorgeous. I think Adelaide was impressed. Mind if I sit?" He straightened, pulling over a chair. "Now. Your people have friends of mine and someone very precious to me. I want them back. Why did you come to the surface? What do you want?" He sighed. "Oh, I do hate a monologue. Give us a bit back. How many are you?"

"I'm the last of my species."

"Really." He scoffed. "No. Last of the species. The Klempari Defense. As an Interrogation defense, it's a bit old hat, I'm afraid."

"I'm the last of my species," she insisted.

"No, you're really not. Because I was the last of my species and I know how it sits in a heart. So don't insult me." He leaned back. "Let's start again. Tell me your name."

"Alaya."

"How long has your tribe been sleeping under the Earth, Alaya? It's not difficult to work out. You're three hundred million years out of your comfort zone. Question is, what woke you now?"

"We were attacked."

The Doctor nodded. "The drill."

"Our sensors detected a threat to our life support systems. The warrior class was activated to prevent the assault. We will wipe the vermin from the surface and reclaim our planet."

He sighed. "Do we have to say vermin? They're really very nice."

"Primitive apes," Alaya spat.

"Extraordinary species. You attack them, they'll fight back. But, there's a peace to be brokered here. I can help you with that."

"This land is ours. We lived here long before the apes."

He shrugged. "Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid. Humans won't give up the planet."

"So we destroy them."

"You underestimate them."

"You underestimate us."

"One tribe of homo reptilian against six billion humans? You've got your work cut out."

Alaya glared at him. "We did not initiate combat, but we can still win."

"Tell me where the people are. Give us back the people who were taken."

"No."

The Doctor stood. "I'm not going to let you provoke a war, Alaya." He folded up the chair. "There'll be no battle here today."

He turned to the door, but Alaya spoke. "The fire of war is already lit. A massacre is due."

"Not while I'm here."

"I'll gladly die for my cause. What will you sacrifice for yours?"

The Doctor clenched his fists. He and Adelaide had already sacrificed everything for their cause. They already knew grief and war and sacrifice.

He didn't know exactly how Adelaide would react, but he knew what he was willing to do in order to rescue her.

They were Time Lords victorious.

They were going to be safe.

Together.

|C-S|

The Doctor stood before the collection of humans. "You're going to what?" Rory said, his eyes wide.

"I'm going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe," he repeated, a bit annoyed at how long this was taking because even though he knew Adelaide was still alive he had no idea what was happening to her, "to talk to them."

"You're going to negotiate with these aliens?"

"They're not aliens! They're…Earth-liens. Once known as the Silurian race, or, some would argue," he had a feeling Adelaide would, if she were there, "Eocenes, or homo reptilia. Not monsters, not evil. Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that's all. Look, from their point of view, you're the invaders. Your drill was threatening their settlement. Now, the creature in the crypt." He gestured back at her. "Her name's Alaya. She's one of their warriors, and she's my best bargaining chip. I need her alive. If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Amy and Adelaide, because I will find them." He looked around at all of them. "While I'm gone, you four people, in this church, in this corner of planet Earth, you have to be the best of humanity."

"And what if they come back?" Mack asked. "Shouldn't we be examining this creature? Dissecting it, finding its weak points?"

Part of the Doctor actually wondered what Adelaide would have done in this situation. She was a scientist, he knew that much, but he also knew she focused on manners and respect, even if she didn't always follow the law.

What would she have done when faced with a homo reptilia hostage?

No. He couldn't think like that, not now.

"No dissecting, no examining. We will return their hostage, they return ours, nobody gets harmed. We can land this together, if you are the best you can be. You are decent, brilliant people. Nobody dies today. Understand?"

Nasreen actually applauded him, only to stop when no one else joined in.

The Doctor turned and walked out of the church, not noticing Nasreen following him until he'd reached the TARDIS. "No, sorry, no. What are you doing?"

"Coming with you, of course?" she looked up at the TARDIS. "What is it, some kind of transport pod?"

"Sort of, but you're not coming with me." Mack ran up too.

"He's right," Mack said, nodding. "You're not."

Nasreen raised her eyebrows at them. "I have spent all my life excavating the layers of this planet, and now you want me to stand back while you head down into it? I don't think so."

He sighed. "I don't have time to argue!"

"I thought we were in a rush."

"It'll be dangerous."

Nasreen shrugged. "Oh, so's crossing the road.

"Oh, for goodness sake. All right, then. Come on." He opened the TARDIS and hurried inside, waiting a few more seconds for Nasreen to enter before speaking again. "Welcome aboard the TARDIS. Now, don't touch anything. Very precious."

Nasreen turned in a circle as she walked over to him. "No way. But…but that's…this is fantastic! What does it do?"

"Everything." He typed a few things. "I'm hoping, if we're going down, that barricade won't interfere." The TARDIS jolted violently and they both fell to the ground. "Did you touch something?"

"No! Isn't this what it does?"

He shook his head. "I'm not doing anything!" the TARDIS began to shake. "We've been hijacked. I can't stop it! They must've sensed the electromagnetic field. They're pulling the TARDIS down into the Earth."

They held onto the console as the TARDIS fell, finally crashing to a stop. "Where are we?" Nasreen asked, the Doctor already hurrying out the door.

They were in a large tunnel with roots and fungus breaking through the dirt walls. He whistled, and listened to it echo. "Looks like we fell through the bottom of their tunnel system. Don't suppose it was designed for handling something like this."

"How far down are we?"

He shrugged. "Oh, a lot more than twenty-one kilometers."

Nasreen frowned. "So why aren't we burning alive?"

"Don't know. Interesting, isn't it?" The Doctor had never wished for Adelaide more in that moment.

Nasreen watched him in surprise. "It's like this is every day to you."

"Not every day." He paused, thinking about it for a second. "Every other day." He led the way down the tunnels, Nasreen hurrying along after.

|C-S|

As it turned out, the scientist decided that instead of continuing to search for a gas that would work on her, he would instead begin to study Adelaide outside of the coffin. Currently, she was strapped down to an examination table and, if she tilted her head the right way, she could see Amy and another man behind her. It was clear the man had been dissected, given the large scar down his chest and, given what she knew, she guessed this was the Mo that had gotten taken first.

She and Mo had managed to have a quick conversation since the scientist had left the room and he promised to take care of Amy once she woke up.

Adelaide knew what was going to happen to her. It was quite obvious, even if it wasn't something she would personally have done. And she also knew it was not something she was going to let happen to Amy.

"Don't struggle," Mo said, and Adelaide knew that Amy had woken, finally. She'd honestly been getting a bit worried. "Close your eyes and don't struggle."

"What?" Amy said, sounding panicked. "Where am I? Why can't I move my body?"

"Decontamination, they call it. They did it to me while I was conscious."

"Okay, you're freaking me out now. Did what? Who did?"

"Dissected me."

Amy gasped. "No."

"Stay calm Amy, please," Adelaide called. "You're going to be fine."

She heard the door open and closed her eyes again, preparing herself. She had been dissected after all, in her first incarnation. She knew what to expect.

|C-S|

"We're looking for a small tribal settlement probably housing around a dozen homo reptilia?" the Doctor guessed. "Maybe less."

Nasreen stopped at a small opening. "One small tribe."

"Yeah."

"Maybe a dozen?"

The Doctor turned and came beside her, only to freeze. This was not good. This was very, very not good. "Maybe more than a dozen. Maybe more like an entire civilization living beneath the Earth."

 **A/N: Uh oh, Adelaide's been captured by the Silurians! Thought it'd be interesting to separate the two Time Lords ;)**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: The Doctor will always attempt to impress Adelaide ;)_

 _Brookie Twiling: I'm glad you liked that bit between them; sadly, we didn't get a chance to explore it here, but thankfully the Master has returned, so that'll be fun in the future. Yes, Adelaide is quite a bit more active than Caroline, thankfully._


	17. Connections

**Connections**

The Doctor and Nasreen walked across a bridge closer to the city. "This place is enormous and deserted," the Doctor said. "The majority of the race are probably still asleep. We need to find Adelaide and Amy." He pulled out his sonic. He knew Adelaide was close, but that was it. "Looking for heat signature anomalies."

"But Doctor, how can all this be here? I mean, these plants…"

"Must be getting closer to the center of the city."

"You're sure this is the best way to enter?"

He shrugged. "Front door approach, Adelaide's favorite. Always the best way." He didn't actually know if it was, but he could guess that it was at least what Adelaide preferred.

But then there was an alarm. "Hostile life forms detected, Area 17."

"Apart from the back door approach," the Doctor said, nodding. "That's also good. Sometimes better, if ruder, but don't tell Adelaide."

"Hostile life forms detected, Area 17."

Nasreen touched his arm. "Doctor…" he spun to see the armed Silurian soldiers.

"We're not hostile!" he raised his hands. "We're not armed! We're here in peace!" The soldiers just shot gas at them and they collapsed.

It appeared the scientist had learned something from Adelaide already.

|C-S|

The scientist approached Amy. "Don't you come near me with that," Amy said, and Adelaide leaned back to see what was happening, though the scientist blocked her sight.

"From the clothing, the human female appears to be more resistant to the cold than the male."

Amy sighed. "I dressed for Rio!"

"Leave her alone!" Mo tried. "You've got me."

The scientist pressed a button from his pocket, tightening the clamps on Amy's wrists, before turning to where Adelaide was lying. "Decontamination of first female specimen complete. Commencing dissection of second female specimen, of unknown origin."

He had just stepped up to her, pressing the scalpel to her skin with clearly no intent to give any anesthesia, when the computer system spoke. "Area 17 incursion. Species diagnostic requested. Area 17 incursion. Species diagnostic requested." The scientist turned and ran out, leaving Adelaide to sigh.

"Are you alright?" Amy called, her voice shaking.

Adelaide didn't say anything, only readjusted the control she'd taken from the scientist until she could release herself, letting herself sit up. Immediately, she turned and opened Amy and Mo's restraints.

"How did you get that?" Mo asked.

"You pick up many things when traveling the universe on your own," Adelaide said, fixing her shirt. "Come on, we're leaving here."

She didn't wait for the humans before leaving the room. She knew what species this was now, she'd realized the moment she'd finally managed to see one of the figure's faces as it tried to figure out exactly how to knock her out. And she knew this did not mean anything good for humanity.

She needed to find the Doctor.

"That creature," Mo said to them as they walked, "do you think it was an alien? Any more of them, do you think? Do you think the Earth's been invaded?"

Amy glanced at Adelaide but answered when it was clear that woman wasn't going to. "Don't know. But I know someone who could have some answers. We need to get back to the surface and find him."

"He's down here," Adelaide called, glancing over her shoulder. "Time Lords can sense each other. I know vaguely where he is." She paused at a door. "Where could this go?"

"Maybe it's a way out of here." Mo pressed the button on the wall panel and the material of the door turned invisible, letting them see through it. Adelaide recognized it as a stasis chamber instantly. "Oh, my God, no." Elliot was hooked up to quite a few wires, but he looked unharmed.

Amy frowned at Mo. "What is it?"

"It's my son. It's Elliot. What've they done to him?" Mo turned to the panel, trying to open the door. "He's in there. We have to get him out! Elliot? Elliot, it's Dad!"

"Access denied. Unauthorized genetic imprint."

Adelaide touched Mo's shoulder. "We can't get in."

"That's my boy in there."

"I know. But they're monitoring vital signs. He's still alive."

Mo studied his son for a few seconds, thankfully choosing to believe Adelaide. "All right. We find weapons, get that creature from the lab and force it to release Elliot, yeah?"

"No weapons." Adelaide stepped back. "Never weapons."

|C-S|

The Doctor was strapped to an examination board being scanned as a female questioned a male that he was fairly certain was a doctor.

"How can they have escaped?" the female asked, annoyed. "This proves all prisoners should remain under military guard."

"I'm sure you'd prefer to be in charge of everything and everyone, Restac, but we rank the same. Is there any word from Alaya?"

"No." Restac turned to look at the Doctor.

"It's fine to show concern, you know. She's part of your gene-chain. I'm decontaminating now."

"Decontamination?" the Doctor shouted, twisting. "No, no, no!"

"It's alright, it won't harm you. I'm only neutralizing all your ape bacteria."

"I'm not an ape. Look at the scans! Two hearts! Totall…"

The doctor paused. "Two hearts?" he didn't let the Doctor finish before turning off the decontamination, thankfully."

"No, complete the process," Restac snapped.

"He's like the female."

It took all of the Doctor's control not to have a reaction to hearing mention of Adelaide. "Oh, that's much better, thanks. Not got any celery, have you? No, no, not really the climate. Tomatoes, though. You'd do a roaring trade in those. I'm the Doctor. Oh, and there's Nasreen, good!" the woman was just waking up.

"Oh," Nasreen mumbled, "a green man."

"Hello. Who are you?" the Doctor turned to Restac.

"Restac. Military commander."

"Oh dear, really? There's always a military, isn't there?"

"Your weapon was attacking the oxygen pockets above our city," the doctor explained.

"Oxygen pockets, lovely. Ooo, but not so good with an impending drill. Now it makes sense."

"Where is the rest of your invasion force?"

"Invasion force?" the Doctor laughed. "Me and lovely Nasreen? No. We came for the humans and other female you took. And to offer the safe return of Alaya. Oh, wait, you and she, what is it, same genetic source? Of course, you're worried, but don't be, she's safe."

"You claim to come in peace, but you hold one of us hostage." Restac motioned for soldiers to take position.

The Doctor held up his hands. "Wait, wait, we all want the same thing here."

"I don't negotiate with apes," Restac snapped, moving towards the door. "I'm going to send a clear message to those on the surface."

"What's that?"

"Your execution."

The Doctor nodded, swallowing. "Yes."

|C-S|

"These chambers are all over the city," Amy commented, touching one of the panels on the wall as they walked. The alcoves lit up to reveal quite a few of the masked Silurian soldiers.

Mo leapt back in shock. "Turn it off, quick!" Amy turned off the lights. "They're not moving."

"They're asleep. In stasis," Adelaide explained as Amy pressed on the light again.

"Let's have another look." Amy stepped into the chamber.

"Amy…" Adelaide warned, but it was clear the human had no intent to actually listen to her.

"I wonder what these are?" Amy bent down to look at the small discs the warriors were standing on.

"Transport, Amy. Think, please." Adelaide sighed. "Now, please, we have to keep moving."

Instead, Mo just stepped into the room as well, grabbing the weapons. "Even better. Weapons."

"Don't…" the humans weren't listening and Adelaide didn't really feel like fighting them, because as much as she didn't like using weapons she did admit that, occasionally, they were necessary.

If only to keep the humans slightly calmer because they felt protected.

The humans backed out of the chamber, Amy turning it off as she went. "Which way now?" Mo asked Adelaide.

"Just follow me." She glanced at Mo. "Thank you for being one of the few humans who does not question the authority of someone who clearly knows more about the situation than you do." She brought them to the door at the end of the corridor, immediately regretting it when they saw rows upon rows of soldiers in stasis.

"We don't stand a chance," Mo whispered.

"We have to find the Doctor." Adelaide turned and continued to lead them, wishing Time Lords could get a bit more specific about tracking each other.

|C-S|

Soldiers escorted the Doctor and Nasreen through the city as the Doctor explained what he knew about Silurians, though he was fairly certain that Adelaide would have known more and been better at explaining it. "These must be the only ones awake. The others must still be hibernation."

"So, why did they go into hibernation in the first place?"

"Their astronomers predicted the planet heading to Earth on a crash course. They built life underground and put themselves to sleep for millennia in order to avert what they thought was the apocalypse, when in reality it was the moon coming into alignment with the Earth."

The doctor, Malokeh, and Restac stopped and looked at him in shock. "How can you know that?"

"Long time ago, I met another tribe of homo reptilian. Similar, but not identical."

"Others of our species have survived?" Restac sounded surprisingly hopeful.

"The humans attacked them. They died. I'm sorry."

Restac sneered. "A vermin race." She turned and led them again, bringing them to what looked like a large courtroom inside something like a citadel.

"You're not authorized to do this," Malohkeh tried.

"I am authorized to protect the safety of our species while they sleep."

The Doctor looked around them. "Oh, lovely place. Very gleaming." He could feel an itching in the back of his mind, he'd been feeling it ever since Adelaide had been taken, but now it was fading.

She was here.

"This is our court and our place of execution."

"And please, do tell me the explanation for this course of action," Adelaide said calmly, making everyone in the room turn towards her. Amy stood behind her, weapon raised.

The Doctor smiled at her. "Adelaide."

"You're covered both ways, so don't try anything clever, buster," Amy nodded towards their other side, where Mo entered with his own weapon.

Adelaide, on the other hand, looked towards Amy. "Don't."

Amy didn't listen. "Let them go, or I shoot."

"As the current immediate representation of the human race, I do not give you that authority," Adelaide snapped, stepping forwards. "Hello, my name is Adelaide, and I have met with your Triad before." She said a Silurian word that, thankfully, she remembered rightly as being the word they'd agreed upon last time. Restac frowned at that. "Which includes you. How are you Restac? It has been a long time." She hadn't recognized Malohkeh when he'd been preparing to dissect her, never able to get a good look at his face until now.

The Doctor looked between them. "You've met them before?"

"Different body, but yes." Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "Restac, Malohkeh, and Eldane and I have all met. Where is Eldane? I seem to remember you never really agreed with him." She gestured at Amy, Mo, Nasreen, and the Doctor. "Do whatever you like with them, but they are still under my protection. You are not to harm them until I give you the okay, is that clear, Restac?"

"I don't take orders from apes," Restac snapped.

"I don't care."

They held eye contact for a little longer before Restac turned to Malohkeh. "This is now a military tribunal. Go back to your laboratory, Malohkeh."

They hissed at each other. "This isn't the way," Malohkeh said.

Adelaide didn't quite remember the specifics about the Silurians, but she could work quickly, she'd had a lot of practice. Talking wasn't her strong suit, but you didn't last as long as she had in the universe without picking up a few negotiation techniques, especially when you didn't want to rely on Time Lord assistance. "There are humans on the surface. They have the hostage."

Restac nodded and Adelaide stepped forward, letting the other warriors chain the three humans and one Time Lord to the pillars. She knew they were all looking at her oddly, but Adelaide was hoping she'd be able to keep them alive for just a little longer.

"Shall we discuss terms?" Adelaide waited for Restac to nod. "The humans on the surface reveal Alaya is unharmed and we open full negotiations." Restac just nodded again.

A large holographic projection appeared in front of Restac and Adelaide, showing the humans they'd left behind on the surface. "Do you understand who we are?" Restac asked.

Rory glanced around the group before speaking. "Sort of. A bit. Not really."

"They have hostages," Adelaide said, gesturing back towards the quartet.

Rory, who'd looked shocked enough to see Adelaide standing there, looked even more shocked to see the Doctor and Amy. "Doctor! Amy!"

"Mo!" Ambrose said, leaning forwards. "Mo, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, love. I've found Elliot. I'm bringing him home."

"Amy, I thought I'd lost you."

Amy frowned. "What, 'cos I was sucked into the ground? You're so clingy."

"Tony Mack!" Nasreen cheered.

"Having fun down there?"

"Not to interrupt," the Doctor said carefully, really not wanting to ruin the little amount of control Adelaide had somehow been able to gather, "but just a quick reminder to stay calm."

"Show me Alaya," Restac ordered. "Show me, and release her immediately unharmed, or we will kill your friends one by one."

Adelaide turned to her. "Those were not our terms."

Restac didn't look at her. "You should have been more specific."

Ambrose shook her head. "No!"

"Ambrose…" Rory tried.

"Just keep calm," Adelaide tried.

Mack tried to pull Ambrose back. "Ambrose, stop it."

"Get off me, Dad. We didn't start this!"

"Ambrose…"

"We are not doing what you say anymore! Now, give me back my family!"

Restac sneered. "No. Execute the girl."

Adelaide stepped forward. "That girl is under my protection, Restac."

"I don't care!" Soldiers moved and grabbed Adelaide, pulling her back.

"Listen, listen," Rory tried. "Whatever you want, we'll do it!"

"Aim." A soldier did so.

"Amy!"

"Rory!"

"Don't do this!" the Doctor tried.

"Fire!"

"Stop!" Adelaide almost cried out in relief, because she recognized that voice. It was Eldane. "You want to start a war while the rest of us sleep, Restac?"

"The apes are attacking us."

"You're our protector, not our commander, Restac. Unchain them."

Restac straightened. "I do not recognize your authority at this time, Eldane."

Eldane shrugged. "Well then, you must shoot me."

Restac looked towards Malohkeh, who stood beside Eldane. "You woke him to undermine me."

"We're not monsters. And neither are they."

Restac shook her head. "What is it about apes you love so much, hmm?"

"While you slept, they've evolved. I've seen it for myself."

"We used to hunt apes for sport. When we came underground, they bred and polluted this planet."

Edlane stepped forward. "Shush now, Restac. Go and play soldiers. I'll let you know if I need you."

Restac scoffed. "You'll need me, then we'll see." She stormed out.

Eldane nodded at the soldiers, unlocking the four prisoners, before turning to Adelaide. "You must be Adelaide." Thankfully, the agreed upon word had been enough to convince them that she was who she'd claimed to be. Eldane's idea to instigate it; he'd planned to transmit it to all Silurians to ensure that, if she ever encountered any of them, she would be known.

She smiled at him. "Malohkeh mentioned?"

"You changed your face."

She chuckled. "Likely should have mentioned that the first time, my apologies." She looked at Malohkeh. "It was quite nice to see you are just as determined as you were then."

"I apologize…"

"I don't blame you. I didn't then." Adelaide turned towards the Doctor as he hurried up, reaching for his hand without thinking and pulling him close. "I need your help."

The Doctor just nodded and stepped back, sonicing the projection and making the humans reappear. "Rory, hello!"

"Where's Amy?"

"She's fine." The Doctor turned and gestured at where Amy was. "Look, here she is."

"Oh, thank God."

"Keeping you on your toes," Amy called, laughing.

"No time to chat. Listen, you need to get down here."

"Go to the drill storeroom. There's a patch of earth in the middle, and the Silurians are going to send up a transport disc to bring you down using a combination of geothermal energy and gravity bubble technology. It's how they travel."

"Bring Alaya. We have her over, we can land this after all. All going to work, promise. Got to dash. Hurry up!"

 **A/N: Adelaide was forced a bit out of her comfort zone here, but sometimes you need to do that to protect people ;)**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _CatLady101: I just used whatever word they were using in the show, but I probably should have checked that. Thanks for letting me know :) Adelaide is currently on her fifth regeneration; I have a list of all her previous regenerations up on my Tumblr currently, if you want to see what the other four looked like._

 _time-twilight: Thankfully, it never got quite that far this time, though the first time Adelaide encountered Silurian's may have gone down just a bit differently..._


	18. Inside the Crack

**Inside the Crack**

Eldane sat across from Amy and Nasreen with the Doctor at one end and Mo and Malohkeh at the other. Adelaide stood behind the humans, knowing she'd have to leave soon, knowing it wasn't really her place to negotiate on behalf of the humans, but thankfully she'd been able to claim so in a pinch.

"I'd say you've got a fair bit to talk about," the Doctor began.

Eldane glanced at him. "How so?"

"You both want the planet, and you both have a genuine claim to it," Adelaide said.

"Are you authorized to negotiate on behalf of humanity?" Eldane asked her.

Adelaide instantly stepped back. "No, not at all." Eldane frowned. "I was the immediate representation when there were no other options. Once that situation was resolved and equal power was established, they are far more qualified." She gestured at Nasreen and Amy, glancing at the Doctor to see his nod of approval.

"What?"

Amy shook her head. "No, we're not."

The Doctor grinned. "Course you are. Amy Pond and Nasreen Chaudhry, speaking for the planet? Humanity couldn't have better ambassadors. Come on, who has more fun than us?"

Amy stood and walked over to them, as Adelaide had moved to stand beside the Doctor, taking his hand without thinking. "Is this what happens, in the future? The planet gets shared? Is that what we need to do?"

Nasreen stood as well, apparently able to hear part of their conversation. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Nasreen, sorry. Probably worth mentioning at this stage, Amy and I travel in time a bit."

Nasreen nodded. "Anything else?"

"Some points in time are what is known as fixed," Adelaide explained. "A point where nothing can ever change, but this is not one of them."

"This is an opportunity. A temporal tipping point. Whatever happens today, will change future events, create its own timeline, its own reality. The future pivots around you, here, now. So do good, for humanity, and for Earth."

Amy nodded, taking a deep breath. "Right. No pressure there, then."

"We can't share the planet. Nobody on the surface is going to go for this idea. It is just too big a leap."

The Doctor grinned at her. "Come on. Be extraordinary."

"Oh…" Nasreen nodded, turning and heading back to the table, Amy following her a second later.

The Time Lords moved to the table, still holding hands, clinging to each other. "Okay, bringing things to order," the Doctor said, thankfully taking over for Adelaide. She knew a bit about negotiation, but nowhere near enough to actually get what she wanted, as had been displayed when it had been all too easy for Restac to override her desires. "The first meeting of representatives of the human race and homo reptilian is now in session. Ha! Never said that before, that's fab!" They stepped back. "Carry on!" They moved towards Mo and Malohkeh. "Now, Mo. Let's go and get your son." He glanced back at the negotiations in process. "Oh, you know, humans, and their predecessors shooting the breeze. Never thought I'd see it."

Adelaide laughed, and the Doctor felt quite happy.

Malohkeh brought them back to where Adelaide, Amy, and Mo had first seen Elliot stored. "Elliot, there you are," the Doctor grinned as Malohkeh worked on opening the door.

"If you've harmed him in any way…"

"Of course not!" Malohkeh sounded honestly surprised. She hadn't met him as a member of the Triad originally, rather just as the scientist chosen to dissect her, but he'd been all too apologetic when she'd finally been able to convince them she was an official representative of the Time Lord people...which she'd technically been. "I only store the young."

The Doctor frowned. "But why?"

"I took samples of the young, slowed their lifecycles to a millionth of their normal rate so I could study how they grew, what they needed, how they lived on the surface."

Adelaide nodded. "And you've been working here all by yourself?"

"My family, through the millennia, and for the last three hundred years, just me." He turned to Mo. "I never meant to harm your child."

The Doctor grinned. "Malohkeh, I rather love you."

"We can wake him," Adelaide said, nodding at the panel.

Malohkeh hurried inside and removed the wires around Elliot before looking at Mo, motioning for him to enter. "Come."

"Elliot?" Elliot blinked slowly. "Ell, it's Dad."

"Dad?"

Mo pulled Elliot into a hug. "You're safe now."

"Where are we?"

"Well, I've got to be honest with you, son. We're in the center of the Earth…and there are lizard men."

Malohkeh gave a little wave. "Hi."

Elliot's eyes widened. "Wow."

The Doctor and Adelaide moved a bit closer. "Elliot, we're sorry. We took our eyes off you…"

"It's okay. I forgive you."

Malohkeh nodded at the Time Lords. "You go on. I'll catch up."

The group nodded and returned the way they'd come, entering as Eldane spoke. "…new methods of water supply, new medicines, scientific advances. We were a great civilization. You provide a place for us on the surface, we'll give you knowledge and technology beyond humanity's dreams. If we work together, this planet could achieve greatness."

Nasreen, who had been looking a bit uneasy, nodded with an interested smile. "Okay. Now I'm starting to see it."

Amy nodded as well, grinning. "Oh yeah."

"Not bad for a first session," the Doctor called as they fully walked in. "More similarities than differences."

There was a sound and Eldane looked up. "The transport has returned. Your friends are here."

A few moments later Rory walked in, with Ambrose and Mack behind him, but Adelaide felt her hearts sink when she saw what Mack was carrying. "Here they are!" the Doctor cheered, not seeming to have noticed.

"Mum!" Elliot ran up to his mother.

"Rory!"

Adelaide shook her head. "Something's wrong."

Amy frowned, noticing Mack. "What's he carrying?"

"Please, no. Don't tell us you did that." Mack laid the body on the ground and let the Doctor kneel to pull aside the cloth, revealing Alaya. "What did you do?"

"It was me," Ambrose said, moving forward. "I did it."

Elliot stepped back in horror. "Mum?"

"I just wanted you back," she reached for her son, but he just moved to his father's side.

Adelaide looked back at Eldane. "I'm sorry. They made a mistake, a terrible mistake, but everyone can make mistakes, even great things."

"This is our planet!" Ambrose shouted.

"We had a chance here," the Doctor snapped at her.

"Leave us alone!"

The Doctor walked right up to Ambrose. "In future, when you talk about this, you tell people there was a chance but you were so much less than the best of humanity."

Restac led a collection of armed soldiers into the room, pausing when she saw the body. "My sister…" she ran to Alaya, wailing when she saw. "And you want us to trust these apes, Adelaide?"

"One scared woman," Adelaide said carefully. "Scared for her family, lashing out. She is not typical."

"I think she is."

"One person made a mistake, but there is a whole race of peaceful humans up there."

The Doctor nodded. "You were building something here. Come on. An alliance could work."

Ambrose shook her head. "It's too late for that."

"Why?"

"Our drill is set to start burrowing again in fifteen minutes."

Nasreen's eyes widened, looking towards Mack. "What?"

"What choice did I have? They had Elliot!"

"Don't do this. Don't call their bluff."

"Let us go back," Ambrose tried. "And you promise to never come to the surface ever again. We'll walk away, leave you alone."

"Execute her!"

"No!" the Doctor ran forwards and grabbed Ambrose as the soldiers began to fire.

"Back to the lab!" Adelaide ordered, leading the way.

"Execute all the apes!"

Adelaide gave Rory quick instructions about how to reach the lab before turning and stepping up beside the Doctor, pulling out her sonic as she did so and using it to disable a gun of a soldier that ran up. "Ah, ah, stop right there or we'll use our very deadly weapons again," the Doctor said. "One warning, that's all you get. If there can be no deal, you go back into hibernation. All of you, now. This ends here."

"No. it only ends with our victory!"

"Like I said, one warning." They flashed a few more guns before running to the lab, sealing the door and turning to the humans. "Elliot, you and your dad keep your eyes on that screen," he pointed to it. "Let us know if we get company."

"Amy, keep a track of the time," Adelaide tossed her the stopwatch the Doctor had given her.

Amy nodded. "Okay. Um, er, twelve minutes till drill impact."

The Doctor turned to Mack. "Tony Mack. Sweaty forehead, dilated pupils. What are you hiding?"

Mack pulled open his shirt to reveal the green veins spreading from a cut in his neck. "Tony, what happened?" Nasreen said, looking horrified.

"Alaya's sting. She said there's no cure. I'm dying, aren't I?"

The Doctor flashed it with a sonic. "You're not dying, you're mutating."

"How can I stop it?"

"Decontamination process might stop it," Adelaide shrugged, looking towards Eldane. "Can you run the program on him?" Eldane nodded, thankfully, and he moved to help Mack get to where he needed to be.

"Shedload of those creatures coming our way," Mo called. "We're surrounded in here."

The Doctor nodded. "So, question is, how do we stop the drill given we can't get there in time? Plus, also, how do we get out, given that we're surrounded?

Adelaide turned to Nasreen. "Energy pulse channeled up through the tunnels to the base of the drill?"

"To blow up my life's work?"

She shrugged. "Yes, my apologies. There's no nice way of saying that."

Nasreen took a deep breath. "Right, well, you're going to have to do it before the drill hits the city, in, er…"

"Eleven minutes forty seconds."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes. Squeaky bum time."

"Yes, but the explosion is going to cave in all the surrounding tunnels, so we have to be out and on the surface by then."

"But we can't get past Restac's troops," Rory said.

"I can help with that," Eldane stepped forward. "Toxic Fumigation. An emergency failsafe meant to protect my species from infection. A warning signal to occupy cryo-chambers. After that, citywide fumigation by toxic gas. Then the city shuts down."

Amy frowned. "You could end up killing your own people."

"Only those foolish enough to follow Restac."

"Are you sure about this?"

Eldane nodded. "My priority is my race's survival. The Earth isn't ready for us to return yet."

"No," the Doctor agreed grimly.

"Ten minutes," Amy called.

The Doctor turned to Adelaide, realizing something. "But maybe it should be." She raised her eyebrows, but there wasn't time at that moment to explain it to her first. "So, here's a deal. Everybody listening? Eldane, you activate shutdown. I'll amend the system, set your alarm for a thousand years time." He turned to the humans. "A thousand years to sort the planet out. To be ready. Pass it on. As legend, or prophecy, or religion, but somehow make it known. This planet is to be shared."

Elliot nodded. "Yeah. I get you."

"Nine minutes, seven seconds."

The Doctor walked over to Eldane, Adelaide watching him with an interested expression. "Yes. Fluid controls, my favorite." He messed with a few things. "Energy pulse. Timed, primed and set. Before we go, energy barricade. Need to cancel it out quickly."

"Fumigation pre-launching," Eldane announced.

"There's barely enough time for us to get to the surface," Adelaide said. "We're going to need to run."

"But the decontamination program on your friend hasn't started yet."

Mack nodded, waving them away. "Well, go. All of you, go."

Ambrose shook her head. "No, we're not leaving you here."

Elliot ran to Mack and hugged him. "Granddad."

"Eight minutes ten seconds."

"Now you look after your mum. You mustn't blame her. She only did what she thought was right."

"I'm not going to see you again, am I?"

"I'll be here, always. I love you, boy." He hugged Elliot again and looked up at Ambrose. "You be sure he gets home safe."

"This is my fault."

"No, I can't go back up there. I'd be a freak show. The technology down here's my only hope." He hugged Ambrose too.

"I love you, Dad."

"Go. Go."

Mo pulled Ambrose's shoulder. "Come on."

"Go on."

"Toxic fumigation initiated," the computer said. "Return to cryo-chambers."

"They're going!" Amy called from the monitor. "We're clear!"

"Okay, everyone follow Nasreen," the Doctor instructed. "Look for a blue box. Get ready to run." He soniced the door open as Adelaide turned back to look at Eldane.

"I'm so sorry."

The man shook his head, sighing. "I thought for a moment, our race and the humans…"

"So did we."

"Doctor, Adelaide, we've got less than six minutes."

The Doctor shoved Amy slightly. "Go. Go! I'm right behind you." They all moved towards the door, but the Time Lords paused when they saw Nasreen still in the room. "Let's go!"

Nasreen shook her head. "I'm not coming either."

"What?"

She walked up to Mack. "We're going to hibernate with them, me and Tony."

"Doctor, Adelaide, you must go."

"I can be decontaminated when we're woken. All the time in the world."

"But, Nasreen, you…"

Nasreen shook her head. "No, this is perfect. I don't want to go. I've got what I was digging for. I can't leave when I've only just found it."

"Doctor!" Amy called from outside. "Adelaide!"

"Thank you, Doctor. And you, Adelaide."

The Doctor stepped forward and hugged her quickly. "The pleasure was all ours." He stepped back, taking Adelaide's hand, and they both turned to run out the room.

"Come and look for us!" Nasreen called after them.

The Time Lords managed to reach the humans as they slowed at a rock bridge, stunned. "Come on!" the Doctor lead them towards where he'd left the TARDIS, unlocking it. "No questions, just get in. And yes, I know, it's big. Ambrose, sickbay up the stairs, left, then left again, get yourself fixed up. Come on."

Adelaide glanced at the watch. "Five minutes and counting."

Then they both paused, looking up in unison, to see the crack from Amy's bedroom, from the Weeping Angels. "Not here. Not now." They stepped forward slowly. "It's getting wider."

Amy's eyes widened. "The crack on my bedroom wall."

"And the Byzantium. All through the universe, rips in the continuum."

"A space-time cataclysm?" Adelaide offered. "An explosion. But what?"

Amy managed to see the stopwatch in Adelaide's hand. "Four minutes fifty. We have to go."

"The Angels laughed when we didn't know. Prisoner Zero knew. Everybody knows except us." The Doctor squat next to it and even Adelaide moved to stand behind him, as close as she dared.

"Just leave it!"

The Doctor pulled a red piece of cloth from his pocket. "But where there's an explosion, there's shrapnel."

Rory shook his head. "Doctor, you can't put your hand in there."

The Doctor just reached into the crack. "Why not?" The light grew brighter and the Doctor cried out in pain, but he didn't remove his hand just yet. "I've got something!"

Adelaide leaned closer. "What?"

He drew his arm out, falling back with his hand clutched to his stomach, whatever he was holding sizzling. "I don't know."

"Doctor!" Rory shouted, and Adelaide instantly reached out to grab the Doctor's arm and pull him back.

Restac crawled towards them, obviously near death, but still determined. "She was there when the gas started," Amy said. "She must have been poisoned."

"You," Restac sneered.

"Okay, get in the TARDIS, both of you," the Doctor gestured towards Amy, the Time Lords drawing together, gripping hands.

"You did this!" Restac raised her weapon and the Doctor pulled Adelaide behind him, not caring about her protests.

"Doctor!" Rory ran forwards and jumped in front of the Time Lords just as Restac fired.

"Rory!" Amy ran to Rory as he fell to the ground.

The Time Lords knelt on either side of him, sonicing him. "Rory, can you hear me?"

"I don't understand," he was clearly in pain, barely able to speak.

Amy shook her head, touching Rory's face. "Shush. Don't talk." She looked up at the Time Lords as they saw the results of the sonic. "Is he okay? We have to get him onto the TARDIS!"

"We were on the hill. I can't die here."

"Don't say that," Amy was sobbing.

"You're so beautiful." Rory smiled at Amy. "I'm sorry." Then his head fell to the side and the Time Lords fell back, heads falling.

"Doctor," Amy said, shaking Rory's arm, "help him!"

Adelaide touched the Doctor's shoulder, moving him backward. The light from the crack had reached Rory's feet. "We need to move away from the light. If it touches you, you're going to be wiped from history." Amy didn't move. "Amy, move away now."

Amy shook her head. "No! I am not leaving him! We have to help him!"

"The light's already around him," the Doctor touched Amy's shoulder. "We can't help him."

"I'm not leaving him."

"We have to."

"No!"

"I'm sorry." He grabbed Amy's arm to pull her back.

"Get off me!" Amy tried to fight him, but when Adelaide stepped forward they were able to drag her back to the TARDIS.

"Sorry."

"Get off me!" They got her back into the TARDIS, the Doctor holding Amy as Adelaide shut the door. And only then did they let her run towards the door, pounding on it. "No! No! Let me out! Please let me out, I need to get to Rory." The Time Lords walked back to the console. "That light…if his body's absorbed, I'll forget him. He'll never have existed. You can't let that happen. What are you doing?" they were already busy setting the TARDIS in motion, but even Adelaide was having trouble keeping her emotions separate. "No! No! No!" Amy ran up to the console to try and turn off anything she could, trying to stop them, but they still dematerialized, they still left Rory.

Amy pounded on the Doctor's chest. "Doctor, we can't just leave him there!"

"Keep him in your mind. Don't forget him. If you forget him, you'll lose him forever."

Amy paused, taking a breath. "When we were on the Byzantium, I still remembered the Clerics because I'm a time traveler now, you said."

The Doctor shook his head, taking Amy's shoulders. "They weren't part of your world. This is different. This is your own history changing."

"Don't tell me it's not going to be okay. You have to make it okay."

"It's going to be hard, but you can do it, Amy." The Doctor guided Amy over to the seat, kneeling in front of her, while Adelaide leaned against the console, watching. "Tell me about Rory, eh? Fantastic Rory. Funny Rory. Gorgeous Rory. Amy, listen to me. Do exactly as I say. Amy, please. Keep concentrating. You can do this."

She shook her head, still crying. "I can't."

"You can. You can do it. I can't help you unless you do. Come on. We can still save his memory. Come on, Amy. Please. Come on, Amy, come on. Amy, please. Don't let anything distract you. Remember Rory." Amy closed her eyes, and they knew she was trying so hard to remember him, as hard as she possibly could. "Keep remembering. Rory's only alive in your memory. You must keep hold of him. Don't let anything distract you. Rory still lives in your mind."

Since it was only Adelaide piloting, the TARDIS landed with a large jolt, sending them all to the floor.

"What were you saying?" Amy said, so horribly bright and happy. The Time Lords just stared at her.

She'd forgotten.

"I have seen some things today," Mo said, coming down the stairs with everyone else, "but this is beyond mad."

Amy grabbed the stopwatch from the TARDIS console. "Doctor. Five seconds till it all goes up!"

They ran outside with just enough time to watch as the drill exploded.

|C-S|

The time travelers made their way back to the TARDIS, Time Lords still holding hands.

"You're both very quiet," Amy said casually, eyeing them, before looking out in the distance. "Oh, hey, look. There I am again." She waved at her future self. "Hello, me." But then she hesitated, frowning.

"Are you okay?"

"I thought I saw someone else there for a second." Amy sighed, shaking her head. "I need a holiday. Didn't we talk about Rio?"

The Doctor nodded. "You go in. I just need to fix this lock. Keeps jamming."

Amy shook her head. "You boys and your locksmithery." She entered the TARDIS and Adelaide closed the door after her, turning to look at the Doctor.

Slowly, the Time Lord drew out the shrapnel from the crack. His breath caught and, carefully, he raised it before the sign of the TARDIS.

They gripped each other hands tighter because it was a burnt piece of the TARDIS.

This wasn't good.

 **A/N: Poor Rory :(**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: Amy's just a bit strong willed, that's all :)_


	19. Small Things

**Small Things**

The Time Lords agreed that they should attempt to make Amy feel better after losing Rory. The human didn't actually remember Rory existed, but that didn't stop her from hurting. Adelaide could understand somewhat how she felt; Caroline had maintained some of her memories, especially once her Time Lady essence had begun to stream back into herself. She'd remember and not remember something in the same moment, miss something and not know why, feel a hole where nothing should ever be.

She knew what Amy was going through. She knew the depth of grief, the confusion.

They'd gone to various time periods and planets, the Doctor and Adelaide taking turns picking where they'd go, but now they'd chosen Musee D'Orsay to see an exhibition of Vincent Van Gogh, apparently Amy's favorite painter.

They walked into the exhibit, Adelaide and the Doctor holding hands, as a man in a bow-tie explained _Wheatfield with Crows_. "So this is one of the last paintings Van Gogh ever painted. Those final months of his life were probably the most astonishing artistic outpouring in history. It was like Shakespeare knocking off Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear over the summer hols. And especially astonishing because Van Gogh did it with no hope of praise or reward."

Amy looked at them as she finished turning in a circle. "Thanks for bringing me."

The Doctor nodded, smiling. "You're welcome."

"You're being so nice to me. Why are you being so nice to me?"

"We're always nice to you."

"Not like this. These places you're taking me. Arcadia, the Trojan Gardens, now this. I think it's suspicious."

"What? It's not." Adelaide had to work to hide her laughter at how seriously the Doctor was clearly taking what Amy had said. "There's nothing to be suspicious about."

Amy laughed nervously. "Okay, I was joking. Why aren't you?"

"Each of these pictures now is worth tens of millions of pounds, yet in his lifetime he was a commercial disaster," the bow-tied man continued. "Sold only one painting, and that to the sister of a friend. We have here possibly the greatest artist of all time, but when he died you could have sold his entire body of work and got about enough money to buy a sofa and a couple of chairs." The group listening to him laughed. "If you follow me now…"

"Who is it?" a boy asked, and the Time Lords turned to see two children staring at _Portrait of Dr. Gachet._

"It's the doctor! He was the doctor who took care of Van Gogh when he started to go mad."

"I knew that," the first boy said, annoyed, as the pair walked away.

"Look!" Amy grabbed Adelaide's arm, pulling them over to _Church at Auvers_ as she looked at her guidebook. "There it is, the actual one!"

"Yes," the Doctor leaned forwards. "You can almost feel his hand painting it right in front of you, carving the colors into shapes…wait a minute." He pulled Adelaide a bit closer so that she could see.

"What?"

"Look at that," Adelaide whispered, spotting it. There was something in the window of the church.

"What?"

"Something very not good indeed."

"What thing very not good?"

Adelaide pointed. "The window of the church."

Amy leaned even closer. "Is it a face?"

"Yes. And not a nice face at all. We know evil when we see it and we see it in that window." The Doctor stepped back, his hand trailing out of Adelaide's, and walked up to the tour guide.

"It has changed hands for something in the region of twenty…"

"Excuse me," the Doctor cut in. "If I can just interrupt for one second." He pulled out his psychic paper. "Sorry, everyone. Routine inspection, Ministry of Art and…Artiness. So…er…"

"Dr. Black."

"Yes, that's right. Do you know when that picture of the church was painted?"

Black raised his eyebrows. "Ah, well, what an interesting question. Most people imagine…"

"I'm going to have to hurry you. When was it?"

"Exactly?"

"As exactly as you can. Without the long speech, if poss. We're in a hurry."

"Well, in that case, probably somewhere between the first and third of June."

"What year?"

"1890. Less than a year before…before he killed himself."

The Doctor nodded. "Thank you, sir. Very helpful indeed. Nice bow-tie." He leaned back towards Amy, who was closer. "Bow-ties are cool."

"Yours is very…"

"Oh, thank you," the Doctor grinned. "Keep telling them stuff." He stepped back, turning to Adelaide and Amy. "We need to go."

Amy frowned. "What about the other pictures?"

"Art can wait. This is life and death. We need to talk to Vincent Van Gogh."

|C-S|

Together, the Time Lords brought the TARDIS to the first of June, 1890. They landed in an alley in the middle of the night and the pair of them led Amy more towards the middle of the city.

"Right, so, here's the plan," the Doctor explained. "We find Vincent and he leads us straight to the church and our nasty friend."

Amy nodded. "Easy peasy."

Adelaide shrugged. "No, actually. Far more likely nothing will be easy with Vincent Van Gogh."

"Now, he'll probably be in the local café. Soft of orangey light, chairs and tables outside."

Amy held up her guidebook, comparing an image inside with the building in front of them. "Like this?"

The Doctor spun and looked a bit shocked, while Adelaide was just looking at him with amusement. "Yeah, exactly like that." He grabbed Adelaide's hand and pulled her up to one of the people standing outside. "Good evening. Does the name Vincent Van Gogh ring a bell?"

The man looked horrified. "Don't mention that man to me." He turned and stalked back inside, leaving Adelaide to turn to a woman standing outside.

"Excuse me. Do you know Vincent Van Gogh?"

The woman sighed. "Unfortunately."

Amy rose her eyebrows. "Unfortunately?"

"He's drunk, he's mad, and he never pays his bills."

"Good painter, though, eh?" the Doctor tried.

Everyone outside laughed at that, making Adelaide pull the Doctor to an open table to sit, though they didn't get to stay there long before there was shouting from inside the café.

"Come on! Come on! One painting for one drink. That's not a bad deal."

The first man stormed out, canvas in hand, followed by a man who was obviously Vincent Van Gogh himself. The Doctor pointed at the man in excitement as Amy bounced in place. "It wouldn't be a bad deal if the painting were any good. I can't hang that up on my walls. It'd scare the customers half to death." He held up the painting to show it was a self-portrait. "It's bad enough having you in here in person, let alone looming over the customers day and night in a stupid hat. You pay money or you get out."

"We'll pay," Adelaide called, drawing everyone's attention.

"What?"

"We'll pay for the drink." She gestured between herself and the Doctor. "Or, we'll buy the painting and you can use that money to pay for the drink."

Vincent frowned at them. "Exactly who are you?"

"We're new in town."

"Well, in that case, you don't know three things. One, I pay for my own drinks, thank you." Everyone laughed. "Two, no one ever buys any of my paintings or they would be laughed out of town. So if you want to stay in town, I suggest you keep your cash to yourself. And three, your friend's cute, but you and your big-nosed friend should keep out of other people's business." Vincent turned back to the owner, or at least that was what they were guessing. "Come on, just one more drink. I'll pay tomorrow."

"No."

"Or, on the other hand, slightly more compassionately, yes?"

"Or, on the other hand, to protect my business from madmen, no."

"Or…"

"Oh look, just shut up, the pair of you," Amy stood. "I would like a bottle of wine, please, which I will then share with whomever I choose." She looked at Vincent.

Vincent smiled. "That could be good."

The owner shrugged. "That's good by me."

"Good." Amy strode past them, the owner shoving the portrait back at Vincent before following Amy inside.

Adelaide took a second to glance look at the Doctor's nose, which he was pouting about. "Not your worst," she said, remembering the various images the Atraxi had projected and she'd seen when still Caroline. "I quite like it."

|C-S|

Amy chose a small table in the café. She and Vincent sat drinking the wine while the Doctor and Adelaide sat slightly to the side, hands still linked. They'd still avoided the majority of the conversation they needed to have while bringing Amy places, claiming they needed to focus on the human, but that hadn't stopped them from reaching for each other's hands more often.

It just felt nice.

"That accent of yours," Vincent said, eying Amy. "You from Holland like me?"

"No," Amy said, at the same time the Doctor said, "yes."

"She is, yes," Adelaide explained.

"So, start again. Hello, this is Adelaide and I'm the Doctor," the Doctor held out his hand.

"I knew it!"

The Doctor frowned. "Sorry?"

"My brother's always sending doctors, but you won't be able to help."

His eyes widened. "Oh, no, not that kind of doctor." He pointed at a painting next to Vincent. "That's incredible, don't you think?"

"Absolutely," Amy grinned. "One of my favorites."

Vincent frowned. "'One of my favorite' whats? You've never seen my work before."

"Ah yes…one of my favorite paintings that I've ever seen, generally."

Vincent scoffed. "Then you can't have seen many paintings. I know it's terrible. It's the best I can do." He turned back to Amy, leaning a bit closer. "Your hair's orange."

She leaned forwards as well. "Yes. So's yours."

"Yes. It was more orange, but now is, of course, less."

Adelaide and the Doctor exchanged a look of surprise before the Doctor cut in again. "So, er, Vincent…painted any churches recently? Any churchy plans? Are churches, chapels, religiously stuff like that, something you'd like to get into? You know, fairly soon?"

Vincent looked a bit annoyed at being interrupted. "Well, there is one church I'm thinking of painting when the weather is right."

The Doctor nodded. "That is very good news."

And then a woman screamed. "She's been murdered! Help me!"

"That, on the other hand, isn't quite such good news." The Time Lords leapt up. "Come on, Amy, Vincent!"

They all hurried outside, following the crowd to where a woman was lying, dead, already with a group of people surrounding her. "She's been ripped to shreds!" a man shouted, horrified.

"Please, let me look," the Doctor tried to push his way through. "I'm a doctor."

"Who is it?" another woman asked.

"Oh no, no, no," the Doctor mumbled, kneeling beside the body as Adelaide moved next to him, Vincent on the other side.

"Is she dead?"

Another woman forced her way through. "Away, all of you vultures! This is my daughter!" She fell to her knees. "Giselle. What monster could have done this?" she looked up at the Doctor, glaring at him. "Get away from her!"

The Doctor stood quickly, stepping back, hands raised. "Okay, okay."

"Get that madman out of here!" the mother threw a stone at Vincent, causing the rest of the crowd to join in trying to hit him and the other time travelers. "You bring this on us. Your madness! You!"

They only stopped once they were far enough away, both turning to Vincent. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," Vincent sighed, "I'm used to it."

"Has there been anything like this murder before?" Adelaide asked.

"Only a week ago. It's a terrible time."

"As I thought, as I thought."

Adelaide stood. "We should get you home."

"Where are you staying tonight?"

The Doctor clapped Vincent's shoulder. "Oh, you're very kind." He grabbed Adelaide's hand before hurrying down the street, leaving Vincent to stare at them in confusion before following.

|C-S|

"Dark night," the Doctor commented, looking up at the sky. "Very starry."

Vincent didn't even look up. "It's not much." He'd brought them to a small house somewhat separated from the rest of the city. "I live on my own. But you should be okay for one night. One night."

"We're going to stay with him?" Amy asked the Time Lords quietly.

The Doctor nodded. "Until he paints that church."

Vincent lit a lamp before opening the door. "Watch out. That one's wet."

"What?"

They stepped into the room to find it practically filled with paintings in various stages of completion. "Sorry about all the clutter."

"Some clutter."

"I've come to accept the only person who's going to love my paintings is me."

Amy just shook her head in shock, eyes wide. "Wow. I mean, really. Wow."

"Yeah, I know it's a mess." Vincent sighed. "I'll have a proper clear out. I must, I really must." The time travelers moved around the room, studying the works of art. "Coffee, anyone?"

Adelaide shook her head. "None for us, thank you," she gestured between herself and the Doctor.

Vincent just shrugged, placing his coffee down on one of his still lives without a second thought. The Doctor winced. "You know, you should be careful with these. They're…" Vincent brushed the coffee ring, "precious."

"Precious to me. Not precious to anyone else."

"They're precious to me," Amy walked up to Vincent.

"Well, you're very kind. And kindness is most welcome."

The Doctor rubbed his hands together. "Right, so, this church, then. Near here, is it?"

Vincent frowned at him. "What is it with you and the church?"

"Oh, just casually interested in it, you know."

"Far from casual. It seems to me you never talk about anything else." Vincent looked at Adelaide. "He's a strange one."

She nodded as seriously as she could. "I worry for him sometimes." The Doctor pouted until Adelaide smiled at him, and neither Time Lord noticed both Amy and Vincent's amused expressions. "What are you interested in, Vincent?"

"Well, look around," he gestured at the collection of art. "Art. It seems to me there's so much more to the world than the average eye is allowed to see. I believe, if you look hard, there are more wonders in this universe than you could ever have dreamed of."

The Time Lords nodded, but it was the Doctor who spoke, glancing at Adelaide. "You don't have to tell me."

That time, Amy and Vincent actually exchanged an amused expression.

|C-S|

The Doctor sat in a chair by the fire listening to Vincent speak of art. Amy had gone outside to look at art outside, though Adelaide was fairly certain the Doctor hadn't noticed. She was sitting on the arm of the Doctor's chair, her foot just touching his leg, because she couldn't deny that she wanted to listen to Vincent.

He may be going on a bit of a mad rambling at the moment, but that didn't stop Adelaide from feeling his statements, from agreeing with the core point.

Or from wanting to sit close to the Doctor, to touch him in such a small way that it almost looked like neither of them knew it was happening.

"It's color!" Vincent was saying. "Color that holds the key. I can hear the colors. Listen to them. Every time I step outside, I feel nature is shouting at me. 'Come on. Come and get me. Come on. Come on!'" He leapt forward and grabbed the Doctor's lapels. "'Capture my mystery!'"

The Doctor gently pushed Vincent back. "Maybe you've had enough coffee now. How about some nice calming tea? Let's get you a cup of chamomile or something, shall we?" he paused, looking around the rest of the room. "Amy? Where's Amy?"

"She went…" Adelaide began, but then there was a scream from outside. Adelaide was the first out of the door, the one in the best position to spring into action, and hurried to Amy's side, turning in a small circle in case whatever it was remained. "What happened?"

"I don't know…I didn't see it. I was having a look at the paintings out here when something hit me from behind."

The Doctor knelt beside Amy. "It's okay. He's gone now and we're here."

Suddenly, Vincent raised his hands, trying to cover his face "No! No!"

Adelaide paused, frowning at him, while the Doctor tried to walk closer, hand outstretched. "Take it easy. Take it easy!"

"What's happening?" Amy asked. "What's he doing?"

"I don't know…"

Vincent grabbed a large pitchfork and held it out like a weapon. "Oh, dear!" the Doctor paused, the tip quite close to his chest.

Vincent screamed, rushing forward, with the time travelers just managing to get out of his path. "Run! Run!"

Adelaide was already directing Amy back towards the building, being the closest, but the Doctor nodded. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's not a bad idea. Amy, get back. He's having some kind of fit. We'll try to calm him down."

"It's not a fit," Adelaide told the Doctor as Vincent stabbed at the air. "He see's something…"

"Look out!" Vincent called just as a barrel was knocked over and the Doctor was hit hard enough in the chest to send him flying.

"I can't see anything!" Amy called. "What is it?"

Adelaide was in the process of running through all invisible aliens she could think of, so she didn't really put much thought into actually answering Amy's question helpfully. "We can't see any more than you can!"

The Doctor pushed himself up from the ground, grabbing a random pole and flourishing it. "Let me help you."

Vincent risked a look at him. "You can see him, too?"

"Yes. Ish. Well, no. Not really." The invisible creature hit the Doctor in the chest again and sent him flying, this time closer to Adelaide, who promptly dragged him backward. "We can't leave Vincent!"

"He's doing perfectly fine!" she gestured at the man, who was now standing still and panting, the monster clearly no longer a threat. "I'd just prefer you don't go running about fighting invisible monsters with a pole. Even you must see how ineffective that is." Adelaide stepped back, nodding. "Let's all go inside." She turned and brought Amy in, leaving Vincent and the Doctor alone outside, though the Doctor was only staring at her.

She had been worried because he'd been being an idiot, that was all. He'd been trying to fight something he couldn't see, and that was the only reason she'd been scared at all. The only reason her hearts had started to race, her palms sweat. She'd just been worried about how idiotic he was.

Not that she didn't want him to get hurt. Not that she cared about him.

And if she did, it was because they were the last Time Lords, they were all each other had.

Or because there was some remaining feeling from Caroline.

That was all it was. On both ends. He'd loved Caroline, Caroline had loved the Doctor, it was difficult to move on from that. And that was all that was happening.

|C-S|

Inside Vincent's home, Adelaide got Amy something to drink to calm her before they all sat around. "Right," the Doctor said, clearing his throat. "So he's invisible. What did he look like?"

"I'll show you." Vincent pulled out one of his iris paintings and painted over it with white before any of the time travelers could stop him.

"Oh, no, no. No, no!" the Doctor reached for the painting.

Vincent frowned at him. "What?"

The Doctor coughed. "It's just, er…that was quite a good…on, no…on you go." Vincent waited until the paint had dried before getting to work sketching the creature with charcoal. Adelaide stood by his side to begin to shorten her list, but while she could cut quite a few, she couldn't narrow it down to one quite yet. "Okay, okay." Adelaide took the sketch as the Doctor spoke. "Right. Amy, make Mr. Van Gogh comfortable. Don't let any invisible monsters in through the front door."

"But it could be outside, waiting."

He shrugged. "Well, don't worry. I'll risk it. What's the worst that can happen?"

"You get torn into pieces by an invisible monster?" Adelaide suggested. "You're not going alone."

He nodded at her. "We'll be back before you can say 'where've they got to now?'" they left the room, Amy taking a deep breath, only for the Doctor to reappear in the doorway. "Not that fast! But pretty fast." He gave a wave. "See you around."

|C-S|

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor searched through various chests Adelaide hadn't known he had, not pausing to explain to her exactly what he was looking for. Though, she supposed, that was good, since she was using that time to study the picture she had.

"Right…" he mumbled. "You in here somewhere? I can't apologize enough. I thought you were just a useless gadget. I thought you were just an embarrassing present from a dull godmother with two heads and bad breath. Twice…" he withdrew a device that looked like a mirror attached to a harness. "How wrong can a man be?" He leapt up and attached the device to the console, stepping aside so that Adelaide could stand next to him, though not close enough that she was in frame when the machine seemed to find a match to his face and began to print out images of past incarnations of the Doctor. "Good. Okay, you're working."

Adelaide nodded and stepped closer, holding up the sketch. There was a ding and she looked over the edge. "A macaw? Really?"

Another ding, this time claiming the sketch was a polar bear. "No. Definitely not." The Doctor sighed. "This is the problem with impressionists. Not accurate enough. This would never happen with Gainsborough or one of those proper painters. Sorry, Vincent. You'll just have to draw something better." He moved to take the painting from Adelaide's hands, but she pulled it back.

"I am not letting you throw a painting by Vincent Van Gogh," she told him, placing the sketch beneath the console.

The Doctor pouted, but it made Adelaide laugh, so it was worth it.

|C-S|

The Doctor followed Adelaide out of the TARDIS, the machine hooked to him and the mirror aimed over his shoulder. They paused in the street, letting the Doctor adjust it. "That's better, old girl. Time delay, but you always get it right in the end. Good. Let's find out who this is, then." The machine beeped. "Well, well, there you are." Adelaide stepped closer, nodding when she saw it was a Krafayis. "Oh, you poor thing. You brutal, murderous, abandoned thing. I hope we meet again soon so we can take you home."

She reached out and adjusted the mirror again, showing the Krafayis over their shoulder. "Perhaps not that soon." She grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him away, both of them scattering benches in an attempt to slow the Krafayis down.

"Take that, and that!" The Krafayis roared as they turned a corner, and the Doctor moved to just the right place so that the mirror could see around the corner. "It's gone." He moved to actually look around the corner himself, only to yelp and fall backwards a few steps. "Never do that! You scared the living daylights out of me."

Amy, who'd appeared, shrugged. "Sorry, I got bored. As much as you admire his command of color and shape, it is hard to get fond of Vincent Van Gogh's snoring."

|C-S|

The Doctor hurried back into the home while Amy and Adelaide finished setting up outside. Amy had thought of a gift for Vincent, meanwhile Adelaide had been attempting to make breakfast. Somehow she'd managed to keep the Doctor from trying to help, so it had actually turned out as something edible.

She watched as Vincent leaned out of his bedroom window, frowning at the sight of all the sunflowers filling his courtyard. "I thought I'd brighten things up to thank you for saving me last night," Amy called to him.

Vincent nodded, grinning. "Ah!"

"I thought you might like, you know, possibly to perhaps paint them or something? Might be a thought."

The Doctor exited the home, coming up beside Adelaide. "Yes, well, they're not my favorite flower."

The time travelers frowned. "You don't like sunflowers?" Amy asked, not really trying that hard to keep the shock out of her voice.

"No, it's not that I don't like them. I find them complex. Always somewhere between living and dying," he reached out and gently touched one close to him. "Half-human as they turn to the sun. A little disgusting. But, you know, they are a challenge."

Adelaide smiled at him. "One you'll rise to. But, if you don't mind, there is something we need to show you."

|C-S|

Once breakfast had been eaten, the Doctor showed Vincent the image they'd gotten of the creature. Vincent nodded. "That's him. And the eyes, without mercy."

"This is something known as the Krafayis," Adelaide explained. "They travel as a pack through the universe. Occasionally, one gets left behind, and the others never come back. Meaning there are countless abandoned Krafayis throughout the universe and all they know how to do is kill until they're killed. Which is quite difficult because they are, as you now know, invisible."

"But I can see them."

She nodded. "Which is why we are in quite a unique position today."

"So, feeling like painting the church today?"

Vincent frowned. "What about the monster?"

"Take our word for it. If you paint it, he will come."

Vincent moved towards the door. "Okay. I'll get my things."

"Take your time. We'll be gone by now tomorrow," Adelaide told him. Vincent paused, looking towards Amy, before retreating to his room.

The Doctor sighed. "This is risky."

Amy stepped closer. "Riskier than normal?"

"Well, think about it. This is the middle of Vincent Van Gogh's greatest year of painting. If we're not careful, the net result of our pleasant little trip will be the brutal murder of the greatest artist who ever lived. Half the pictures on the wall of the Museé D'Orsay will disappear. And it will be our fault." He looked towards Adelaide, squeezing her hand.

 **A/N: The two Time Lords are as oblivious about their feelings for each other as always, sadly.**

 **Since I've recently realized I have almost 100 more chapters of this story already written, I've decided to post two chapters a week for as long as I can; one on the weekend, one on Wednesday. Enjoy!**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _Guest: Thank you very much! :)_


	20. Little Victories

**Little Victories**

It had been a while, and the Time Lords weren't going to deny that they were worried about Vincent. There had been barely any sound from his room and they knew it had been long enough for him to gather everything he would need to paint the church.

Somehow, the Time Lords didn't need to communicate, because the Doctor stood to go check on Vincent, leaving Adelaide to keep watch over Amy. Their plans were aligning now, which should have surprised them, given how distant they had been originally. Now they didn't need to fight over who would do what; they knew when to turn to the other.

They were comfortable, somehow, even with so much they still needed to discuss.

The Doctor was only gone for a few seconds before exiting the building again, meeting Adelaide's eyes for a second.

"What's happening?" Amy asked, not privy to the silent conversations the Time Lords had managed to cultivate.

"We're leaving," he informed them. "Everyone knows he's a delicate man. Just months from now he'll…he'll take his own life." The Doctor had reached Adelaide by then, taking her hand. She did give him a questioning expression, clearly wondering what was causing him to look as distressed as he did because she already knew him well enough to know that expression wasn't from the knowledge that Vincent would kill himself.

But now wasn't the time to tell her.

Amy shook her head. "Don't say that. Please."

The group didn't leave immediately. The Time Lords turned and left Amy to herself for a few moments, going to look at some of the paintings, though eventually, the human did join them. Adelaide touched Amy's shoulder when she arrived. "Come on. We just have to go to the church and hope the Krayafis turns up."

There was a sound from the doorway and they all turned to see Vincent. "I'm ready. Let's go."

|C-S|

Vincent and Amy walked together, arms linked, while the Time Lords walked behind them, holding hands. They were attempting to give the humans some space, but also wanted to be close enough in case the Krafayis decided to appear early.

"I'm sorry you're so sad," Amy said quietly to Vincent.

"But I'm not," Vincent laughed. "Sometimes these moods torture me for weeks, for months. But I'm good now. If Amy Pond can soldier on, then so can Vincent Van Gogh."

"I'm not soldiering on. I'm fine."

"Oh, Amy, I hear the song of your sadness." Vincent looked at her sadly. "You've lost someone, I think."

"I'm not sad."

"Then why are you crying?" Amy touched her cheek and wiped away a tear, clearly confused about why she'd been crying. The Time Lords just watched her sadly, their grips on each other's hand tightening. "It's all right. I understand."

Amy shook her head. "I'm not sure I do."

After a short pause enforced by Adelaide holding the Doctor back, the Time Lords stepped forward. "Okay," the Doctor said carefully, far more carefully than he normally would have. "Okay. So, now, we must have a plan. When the creature returns…"

"Then we shall fight him again." Vincent turned to look at them.

"Well, yes, tick. But last night we were lucky. Amy could have been killed. So this time, for a start, we need to make sure Adelaide and I can see him too."

Amy frowned. "And how are we meant to do that, suddenly?"

The Doctor held up a case. "The answer's in this box. I had an excellent, if smelly, godmother."

They reached the end of the road to find a funeral procession moving past, sunflowers on the coffin. "Oh no," Vincent breathed, watching them, "it's that poor girl from the village."

They watched as the procession passed, the mother spotting them but doing nothing. "You do have a plan, don't you?"

"He has a thing," Adelaide corrected, having heard the Doctor explain the difference many times. His past regeneration hadn't spoken of them so much, but this Doctor seemed terrible at actually making plans first. "I'm helping him make it a plan."

|C-S|

Amy helped Vincent set up his painting supplies while the Time Lords stood behind them both. "And you'll be sure to tell us if you see any, you know, monsters," the Doctor asked.

"Yes. While I may be mad, I'm not stupid."

"No, quite." The Doctor stepped closer. "And, to be honest, I'm not sure about mad either. It seems to me depression is a very complex…"

"Shush," Vincent scolded. "I'm working."

"Well, yes! Paint. Do painting!"

Adelaide pulled the Doctor back.

|C-S|

Vincent was in the process of painting the sky by the time the Doctor spoke again. "I remember watching Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. Wow! What a whiner. I said to him, 'look, if you're scared of heights, you shouldn't have taken the job then…'"

Adelaide shook her head. "Doctor…"

Thankfully, he fell quiet for a little, but it was nowhere near long enough. "And Picasso. What a ghastly old goat. I kept telling him, 'concentrate, Pablo. It's one eye, either side of the face.'"

She touched the Doctor's arm. "Do you understand the concept of some people needing quiet to concentrate?" she nodded towards Vincent.

"But it's taking so long!" he moaned.

Adelaide sighed. "It was your idea for us to watch as Vincent painted."

The Doctor grumbled, but he couldn't deny her statement.

He was quiet for a bit longer that time, giving Vincent enough time to actually finish half of the painting, before speaking again, though thankfully she'd moved him far enough away from Vincent that his speaking didn't interrupt the painting. "Is this how time normally passes?" he mumbled. "Really slowly. In the right order." He sighed. "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's an unpunctual alien attack."

"There!" Vincent said suddenly, pointing. "He's at the window!"

The Time Lords ran over. "Where?"

"There, on the right."

"As I thought." The Doctor readjusted his grip on Adelaide's hand. "Come on, we're going in."

Vincent stood. "Well, I'm going too."

"No!" the Time Lords' eyes widened. "You're Vincent Van Gogh! No."

Vincent frowned at them. "But you're not armed."

"I am."

"What with?"

"Overconfidence, this," he tapped the case, "a small screwdriver, and a pen." Adelaide tapped her own sonic. "We're absolutely sorted."

"We simply need to find the proper crosactic setting and stun the Krafayis."

"Sonic never fails." The Doctor turned to Amy. "Anyway, Amy, only one thought, one simple instruction. Don't follow us under any circumstances."

Amy nodded. "I won't."

The Time Lords turned and headed for the church, and when Adelaide looked back she saw, just as they'd guessed, Amy following them anyways. They paused so that the Doctor could put back on the device so that they could actually see it, and then they began to look, using Adelaide's sonic to scan.

"Damn, he's moved…" the Doctor mumbled, readjusting the mirror, only to get hard in the side, sending him away from Adelaide and smashing the device.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted, running into the room and towards the Time Lord.

"Learn to listen!" Adelaide scolded, already opening the confessional door to give them some protection, though it wouldn't be much. "Absolutely quiet, Amy."

They could hear the Krafayis moving in the rest of the room. "Can you breathe a little quieter, please?" the Doctor said to Amy, not being that quiet himself.

"No!" she lifted the curtain. "He's gone past."

"Don't…" Adelaide warned just as the Krafayis smashed the wood around Amy, making her scream. "He heard you," she told the Doctor as the Krafayis broke through where they were hiding.

"That is impressive hearing he's got. What's less impressive are our chances of survival."

"Hey!" there was a shout from outside from Vincent. "Are you looking for me, sonny?" they looked through the broken wood to see him brandishing a chair like a weapon. "Come on, over here. Because I'm right here waiting for you." He gestured for the time travelers to come out. "Come on. Quickly. Get behind me."

As they ran, Adelaide tried her sonic again. "Anything?"

"Uh uh!"

They all backed out of the room, the Doctor looking in vague directions but Adelaide actually using Vincent's movements to track the Krafayis, which the Doctor seemed to realize eventually. "Where is he?"

"Where do you think he is, you idiot? Use your head!"

Adelaide tried something else with her sonic. "Anything?"

"Nothing. In fact, he seemed to rather enjoy it." They separated, Vincent trying to keep the Krafayis away. "Duck! Left!" the time travelers did as he said, but Adelaide was flung into a wall, making the Doctor run to her side in a panic. "Sorry! Your right, my left."

The Doctor shook his head. "This is no good at all. Run like crazy and regroup?"

"Oh, come on, in here!" Amy called, running into another church room. They managed to close the door before the Krafayis got through, though it still fought it.

"Right," the Doctor breathed heavily. "Okay. Here's the plan. Adelaide, Amy, Rory…"

"Who?"

"Sorry," he winced. "Er, Vincent."

"What's the plan?"

Adelaide shook her head. "No idea at the moment."

"Give me a second," Vincent ran off. "I'll be back."

"I suppose we could try talking to him," the Doctor shrugged.

"Talking to him?"

Adelaide nodded. "Always good to know their side of the story." The Krafayis growled. "Though maybe not right now…"

"No harm in trying. Listen. Listen!" the Doctor waited until the growling had stopped. "I know you can understand me, even though I know you won't understand why you can understand me. I also know that no one's talked to you for a pretty long stretch, but please, listen. We also don't belong on this planet. We also are alone. If you trust us, I'm sure we can come to some kind of, you know, understanding. And then…and then who knows?"

A window near them smashed and they knew the Krafayis rushed inside, smashing things as it moved.

Vincent returned, using his easel as a weapon. "Over here, mate!"

The time travelers hid behind a stone monument in the room, trying to stay out of danger as best they could. "What's it doing?" Adelaide called.

"It's moving round the room. Feeling its way around."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"It's like it's trapped. It's moving round the edges of the room."

She turned to the Doctor, grabbing both of his hands. "We're so stupid!"

Amy sighed. "Oh, get a grip! This is not a moment to re-evaluate your self-esteem!"

"No, we're either both really stupid, or you've slowed me down." The Doctor's eyes widened as he began to understand what she'd just realized, and was now cursing herself for. "It attacks but never eats its victims, it was abandoned and left to die, and it's currently feeling its way helplessly around the walls of a room. It's blind! With perfect hearing!"

"Which unfortunately also explains why it is now turning around and heading straight for us."

It was the Doctor's turn to drag Adelaide backward. "Vincent, what's happening?"

"It's charging now. Get back. Get back!" It appeared that Vincent had managed to impale the Krafayis with the ends of the easel because suddenly he was lifted into the air as the creature moaned in pain. Then it collapsed, Vincent managing to get out of the way before any real damage was done to him. "He wasn't without mercy at all. He was without sight." The Time Lords made their way to the invisible creature, the blood stain letting them know exactly where it was. "I didn't mean that to happen. I only meant to wound it, I never meant to…"

The Doctor gently touched the Krafayis. "He's trying to say something."

"What is it?"

"I'm having trouble making it out, but I think he's saying, 'I'm afraid. I'm afraid'." The Doctor rubbed it carefully. "There, there. Shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay. You'll be fine. Shh." Then he fell back on his heels and the Time Lords gripped hands.

"He was frightened," Vincent said quietly, "and he lashed out. Like humans who lash out when they're frightened. Like the villagers who scream at me. Like the children who throw stones at me."

"Sometimes winning…winning is no fun at all." The Time Lords looked at each other and didn't need to speak before moving to hug each other.

The Time Lords Victorious.

No, sometimes winning was no fun.

|C-S|

The group laid in a small circle in a field, staring up at the stars. Vincent, slowly, reached out for Amy and Adelaide's hands, Amy reaching for the Doctor since he and Adelaide were already holding hands. "Try to see what I see," Vincent said. "We are so lucky we are still alive to see this beautiful world. Look at the sky. It's not dark and black and without character. The black is in fact deep blue," he pointed with Adelaide's hand. "And over there, lighter blue…" letting go of Amy's, he made a sweeping motion. "And blowing through the blueness and the blackness, the wind swirling through the air and then, shining, burning, bursting through, the stars!" they could almost see the sky transforming into Vincent's painting. "Can you see how they roar their light? Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes."

"We've seen many things, my friend," the Doctor said. "But you're right. Nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see."

Vincent didn't comment on that, simply squeezing Amy's hand tighter, turning to look at her. "I will miss you terribly."

|C-S|

The next morning, they all stood in Vincent's home. "I only wish I had something of real value to give you," he sighed, the Doctor looking down at _Self Portrait with Straw Hat_.

"Oh, no, no, no. We could never accept such an extraordinary gift," the Doctor said.

"But thank you, Vincent. For everything."

Vincent smiled, but he sighed. "You're not the first to decline the offer." He turned to Amy, holding out his arms. "Amy, the blessed, the wonderful."

Amy gave him a hug and a kiss on each cheek. "Be good to yourself, and be kind to yourself."

"I'll try my best."

"And maybe give the beard a little trim before you next kiss someone," she laughed.

"I will, I will. And if you tire of these adventures of yours, return, and we will have children by the dozen." Amy grimaced, and Vincent turned to the Time Lords. "Doctor, Adelaide, my friends." He gave them both a hug. "We have fought monsters together and we have won. On my own, I fear I may not do as well."

The Time Lords didn't want to leave, knowing what would happen to him in the all too near future, before turning and leaving his home, though they both paused a little ways away. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I was thinking I may need some food or something before we leave."

"Well, no, you're not thinking exactly what I'm thinking." The Doctor looked at Adelaide, who was grinning, before turning and rushing back to Vincent's home. "Vincent" the man looked out from his window, shirtless. "We've got something to show you. Maybe just tidy yourself up a bit first."

It didn't take long for Vincent to emerge and for the Time Lords to bring the group back to where they'd left the TARDIS. "Now, you know we've had quite a few chats about the possibility there might be more to life than normal people imagine?"

"Yes."

Adelaide moved to the door. "Well, prepare yourself." She split the posters that had been plastered on the TARDIS with the key and opened the doors.

Vincent entered, looking in shock at the size, before coming outside, walking around it, and re-entering. "How come I'm the crazy one and you three have stayed sane?" he asked as they followed him up to the console. "What do these things all do?"

"Oh, a huge variety of things. This one here, for instance, plays soothing music." The Doctor turned a knob. "While this one makes a huge amount of noise. And this one makes everything go absolutely tonto." The TARDIS jerked to life.

"And this one?"

"Friction contrafibulator," Adelaide informed him.

"And this?"

"That's ketchup. And that one's mustard."

"Mmm, nice." Vincent grabbed the Doctor's shoulders to settle himself. "Come on, back to the café and you can tell me about all the wonders of the universe."

"Good idea. Although, actually, there's a little something we'd like to show you first." Together, the Time Lords set the TARDIS into motion.

|C-S|

The time travelers carefully brought Vincent out of the TARDIS in modern day France. The artist looked around in shock. "Where are we?"

"Paris, 2010 AD," the Doctor told him, gesturing at the building in front of them. "And this is the mighty Museé D'Orsay, home to many of the greatest paintings in history."

"Oh, that's wonderful."

As they neared the museum, they passed two boys listening to a radio, which Vincent stared at. "Ignore that," Adelaide called from their position ahead, the Doctor still pulling her forwards. "We have something far more interesting to show you."

Amy moved back and linked arms with Vincent to keep him moving through the museum, watching as he looked with wide eyes at all the other great painters, until they reached the Van Gogh exhibit.

The shock on his face when Vincent saw the art that filled his home, the art that no one had wanted, displayed for people to marvel at was something Adelaide was fairly certain she'd never forget.

"Dr. Black," the Doctor called, pulling her over to the tour guide, "we met a few days ago. I asked you about the _Church at Auvers_ …"

"Oh, yes." The man nodded. "Glad to be of help. You were nice about my tie."

"Yes. And today is another cracker if I may say so." As the Doctor spoke, Adelaide gestured for Amy to bring Vincent a bit closer so that he could hear what was being said. "But I just wondered, between you, me, and her," he gestured at Adelaide, "where do you think Van Gogh rates in the history of art?"

The guide looked a bit surprised, but he didn't need long to think. "Well, big question, but to me, Van Gogh is the finest painter of them all. Certainly, the most popular great painter of all time, the most beloved. His command of color, the most magnificent. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty. Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world…no one had ever done it before. Perhaps no one ever will again. To my mind, that strange, wild man who roamed the fields of Provence was not old the world's greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived."

Vincent burst into tears, the Time Lords turning to him in worry. "Vincent," Adelaide said quietly, stepping closer. "Are you alright? Is it too much?"

"No," Vincent smiled, "they are tears of joy." He went over to Dr. Black, kissing his cheeks. "Thank you, sir. Thank you," and then also hugged him.

Dr. Black looked shocked, but he still pat Vincent on the back. "You're welcome. You're welcome."

"Sorry about the beard," Vincent said as he moved back, rubbing his face.

|C-S|

Back in 19th century France, the group emerged from the TARDIS, Vincent looking happier than they had ever seen him. "This changes everything. I'll step out tomorrow with my easel on my back a different man." He shook his head. "I still can't believe that one of the haystacks was in the museum. How embarrassing."

The Doctor shook his hand. "It's been a great adventure."

"And a great honor," Adelaide added, hugging Vincent.

"You've turned out to be the first doctor ever actually to make a difference to my life," Vincent laughed.

"I'm delighted. I won't ever forget you." The Doctor stepped back to the TARDIS, not letting go of Adelaide's hand.

Vincent turned to Amy. "And you are sure marriage is out of the question?"

Amy hugged him. "This time. I'm not really the marrying kind." She kissed his cheek before running back to the Time Lords, who's faces had fallen. "Come on, let's go back to the gallery right now."

|C-S|

Amy rushed out of the TARDIS, but the Time Lords were far more reserved. "Time can be rewritten!" she called to them. "I know it can. Come on! Oh, the long life of Vincent Van Gogh. There'll be hundreds of new paintings."

Adelaide squeezed the Doctor's hand tightly. "I'm not certain there will."

"Come on!" Amy ran into the Van Gogh exhibit, but she paused, looking around at exactly the same room there had been before.

"We have here the last work of Vincent Van Gogh," Dr. Black said, "who committed suicide at only thirty seven. He is now acknowledged to be one of the foremost artists of all time." Amy closed her eyes. "If you follow me now…"

"So, you were right," Amy said quietly. "No new paintings. We didn't make a difference at all."

Adelaide stepped forward, taking Amy's hands. "The good in life doesn't always soften the bad, but the bad doesn't always spoil the good." The Doctor froze, eyes wide, staring at Adelaide in shock. "And we most certainly added to the good in his life." She turned Amy towards the painting of _Church at Auvers_. "If you look closely, maybe we did make a few changes."

"No Krafayis."

Adelaide nodded. "No Krafayis."

Amy stepped away from the Time Lady, moving to the center of the room. The Doctor hadn't moved from his position and Adelaide noticed, frowning at him before turning to where Amy had gone. She'd finally spotted something Adelaide had noticed when they'd first walked in, another alteration to _Still Life Vase with Twelve Sunflowers_ ; 'For Amy' written above Vincent's signature.

Vincent had left Amy a note. "If we had got married, our kids would have had very, very red hair."

She nodded. "The ultimate ginger."

"The ultimate ginge." Amy smiled. "Brighter than sunflowers."

|C-S|

The Time Lords were quite terrible at actually communicating when they needed to, but this time the Doctor was far too obvious about how bothered he was. Once Amy had left to be on her own for a little, Adelaide cornered the Doctor beneath the console, where he was attempting to fix something that even Adelaide knew didn't need fixing.

"What's bothering you?"

The Doctor looked up like he hadn't noticed her arrival, even though Adelaide had seen him watching her from beneath the console. "Everything's fine."

She raised her eyebrows. "Doctor…"

"You said the same thing."

"What?"

"About good things and bad things. You said it to me about Jenny."

Adelaide frowned. She remembered being Caroline, of course, even if it was occasionally a bit blurry before the Library. She remembered Jenny, the Doctor's daughter, and she remembered the Doctor's struggles with accepting what felt like a replacement of his original children. And when she focused, she remembered what she'd said to him, the statement she'd just told Amy.

"I did."

The Doctor nodded. "How…"

"How much of Adelaide was in Caroline?" she finished for him, and the Doctor nodded again. "I don't think the original Chameleon Arch was fully completed." He frowned. "My TARDIS was already damaged. I already have evidence that it brought me to the wrong time, it makes sense that it would also have let too much of my Time Lady self slip through. Caroline knew too much for a normal human."

The Doctor nodded again. "I noticed but…"

She stepped closer. "You weren't looking for a Time Lady. So you didn't see one."

He reached out and took her hand, not saying anything else, just holding it, studying her face.

How hard was it for him to look at her face and not think of Caroline, that logical human he'd fallen for? How hard was it for him not to miss her, not to think it wrong that there was someone else with her face?

Or did he only see Adelaide now? Had Caroline faded, a distant memory of a time long ago? Had he only remembered she'd been a human at all because she'd said the same thing she once had?

The last Time Lords really did need to talk.

Because there had been so much of Adelaide in Caroline that that human's love had not faded when the fob watch had been opened.

And the Doctor's love hadn't shifted when looking at a Time Lady instead.

 **A/N: What's this? The Time Lords admitting to themselves that they might still love each other? If only either of them were willing to talk about it...**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _AxidentlGoddess: They are getting quite adorable, aren't they? And it will take something quite special for them to actually admit to each other how they still feel, though now they've started to admit it to themselves, so that's a bit of progress ;)_


	21. Distracted

**Distracted**

The Doctor pulled Adelaide from the TARDIS, both of them frowning when they saw where they'd landed. "No, Amy," he called back to Amy, who'd been waiting by the console, "it's definitely not the fifth moon of Cindie Colesta." He moved forward a bit. "I think I can see a Ryman's."

There was an explosion behind them and the Time Lords were thrown away from the TARDIS. They just managed to stand as the TARDIS began to dematerialize, the Doctor running towards it. "Amy! Amy!" Adelaide stayed where they'd fallen, eying the Doctor. "Amy! Amy!" He turned to look at her. "We're stuck!"

Adelaide nodded. "Yes, I can see that."

"Amy's stuck!"

"And I can see that." She stepped forward and took his hand, dragging him towards her. "I'm going to trust you to think up some way to communicate with Amy in the TARDIS, wherever she is."

|C-S|

Thankfully, it turns out she could trust the Doctor to do that. He managed to build two wireless devices that let them communicate with the TARDIS and ensure that Amy was actually still okay. It quickly became clear that they had no idea what had happened with the TARDIS, or when it would reappear.

The pair were just walking through the street, trying to determine where they'd actually landed, when the Doctor had spotted a note from Amy in the window of a paper shop. It directed them towards an ad for a room open for rent and the Time Lords didn't even need to discuss it before looking around for some way to get money. Thankfully, sonics were quite useful in getting money from a cash machine, even if Adelaide did dislike the thought of stealing money - the Doctor just suggested she cover her eyes and pretend he'd gotten the money by doing a spectacular mime routine.

They managed to find the building in question and the Doctor rang the doorbell, the Time Lords standing hand in hand when a man burst out of the door with a cry of "I love you!"Both Time Lords' eyebrows rose and even the man looked shocked.

"Well, that's good, because we're your new lodgers." The Doctor stepped forward and took the pink keys from the man's hand. "Do you know, this is going to be easier than I expected."

"But I only put the advert up today. I didn't put my address."

The Doctor grinned. "Well, aren't you lucky we came along? More lucky than you know. Less of a young professional, more of an ancient amateur, but, thankfully, she's an absolute dream most of the time, so it evens out."

Adelaide had to try quite hard not to look at the Doctor at that statement.

The man shook his head. "Hang on a minute. I don't know if I want you staying, and give me back those keys, you can't have those!" he snatched them from the Doctor's hand.

"Would the rent help?" Adelaide asked, holding out the paper bag. She'd tried to convince the Doctor they didn't need to give that much money, but the Doctor claimed that the more money, the better. "I know it's quite a lot, but we'd really like to stay."

The Doctor pulled Adelaide past the man. "Don't spend it all on sweets, unless you like sweets. I like sweets." He looked at Adelaide. "Do you like sweets?" he didn't give her a chance to answer before he stepped forward and gave the man two air kisses. "That's how we greet each other nowadays, isn't it?"

Adelaide shook her head, pulling the Doctor back. "So sorry. I'm Adelaide, this is the Doctor."

"Well, they call me the Doctor," the Doctor scrambled to explain the name, catching the man's odd expression at it. "I don't know why. I call me the Doctor, too. Still don't know why."

"Craig Owens," the man said carefully. "The Doctor?"

Adelaide glanced at the top of the stairs as the light in the hallway flickered. "Who lives upstairs?"

"Just some bloke."

"What's he like?"

"Normal…he's very quiet." There was a loud crash. "Usually. Sorry, who are you again?" the Doctor just switched to holding Adelaide's hand, pulling her into the flat. "Hello? Excuse me?"

"Sorry!" she called after them. They went over to the corner of the sitting room to look at the large stain on the ceiling. "Dry rot?" Adelaide asked Craig.

"Or damp. Or mildew."

"Or none of the above."

Craig shrugged. "I'll get someone to fix it."

"No, I'll fix it," the Doctor said. "I'm good at fixing rot. Call me the Rotmeister." He grimaced. "No, I'm the Doctor, don't call me the Rotmeister."

"You have a very nice parlor," Adelaide said. "Very nice taste."

"We can stay, Craig, can't we? Say we can."

Craig frowned. "You haven't even seen the room."

"The room?"

"Your room."

"Our room?" the Doctor looked at Adelaide, who just shook her head at him. "Oh, yes. Our room." He swallowed hard. "Our room. Take us to our room."

Craig shook his head at them before bringing them to the room across the hall. "Yeah, this is Mark's old room. He owns the place. Moved out about a month ago. This uncle he'd never even heard of died and left a load of money in the will."

The Doctor chuckled. "How very convenient." He looked around the room. "This'll do just right. In fact…" there was another crash from above. "No time to lose." He turned to Craig. "We'll take it. Ah, you'll want to see our credentials." He pulled out the psychic paper. "There, National Insurance number," he passed it behind his back, "NHS number," and again, "references."

Craig frowned at the paper. "Is that a reference from the Archbishop of Canterbury?"

"I'm his special favorite." The Doctor turned to Adelaide, who had just been watching him with amusement. He had been doing quite a bit better where his manners were concerned, but she knew he was nervous so everything was a bit all over the place at the moment. "Are you hungry? I'm hungry." The Doctor turned and ran from the room.

"I haven't got anything in!" Craig called after him, following.

Adelaide stepped up beside Craig. "I am so sorry about him," she said. True, sometimes she could get as excited as the Doctor, but currently they had agreed they would attempt to pass as normal humans. It appeared that the Doctor had no idea what that actually meant, though she did have a feeling he was too nervous about Amy and the TARDIS and whatever was happening upstairs to focus on anything else.

She was nervous too, of course, but like everything else, she was better able to keep those nervous feelings in check.

"You've got everything I need for an omelet fines herbs, pour trois," the Doctor said as they entered. "So, who's the girl on the fridge?"

Craig glanced at it. "My friend. Sophie."

"Girlfriend?"

"A friend who is a girl," Craig corrected quickly. "There's nothing going on."

"Oh, that's completely normal," the Doctor said, nodding. "Works for me. Mostly." He whispered the last word and glanced at Adelaide. She honestly felt her face redden slightly because she'd spent enough time around the Doctor as both a Time Lady and a human that she understood what he meant.

"We met at work about a year ago, at the call center," Craig continued, not noticing the small interaction.

Adelaide nodded, coughing slightly. "Communications exchange."

"Firm's going down though. The bosses are using a totally rubbish business model. I know what they should do. I got a plan all worked out, but I'm just a phone drone. I can't go running in saying I know best." Craig paused, frowning. "Why am I telling you this? I don't even know you."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, I've got one of those faces. People never stop blurting out their plans while I'm around."

"Right. Where's your stuff?"

He waved a hand. "Oh, don't worry, it'll materialize if all goes to plan."

Adelaide just shook her head at him.

|C-S|

Adelaide didn't want to admit she was impressed with the Doctor's cooking, but she was. He could actually make eggs if he focused hard enough on the task.

"Oh, that was incredible!" Craig said, falling back into the sofa. "That was absolutely brilliant. Where did you learn to cook?"

"Paris, in the 18th century." He met Adelaide's eyes on the other side of the parlor. "That's not recent, is it? 17th? No, no, no. 20th." He sighed. "Sorry, I'm not used to doing them in the right order."

Craig shook his head. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit weird?"

"They never really stop. Ever been to Paris, Craig?"

"Nah, I can't see the point of Paris. I'm not much of a traveler."

"I can tell from your sofa."

"Doctor," Adelaide warned, but that didn't stop him.

"You're starting to look like it."

Thankfully, Craig laughed. "Thanks, mate, that's lovely. No, I like it here. I'd miss it, I'd miss…"

"Those keys?"

Craig paused. "What?"

"You're holding onto them quite hard," Adelaide said, nodding at the pink keychain Craig hadn't let go of since they'd arrived.

"I'm just holding them."

She nodded. "Right."

"Anyway," Craig coughed, standing and fishing something from a table near the door. "These…these are your keys."

"We can stay?"

Craig laughed. "Yeah, you're weird but Adelaide's nice, and you can cook. It's good enough for me." He held up the keys. "Right. Outdoor, front door, your door."

The Doctor took the keys. "Our door. Our place. Our gaff…ha! Yes!" He glanced back at Adelaide. "Me with a key." She shook her head at him, turning to look at the rot again as Craig leaned closer to the Doctor.

"And listen, Mark and I, we had an arrangement where if you ever need me out of your hair, just give me a shout, okay?"

The Doctor frowned. "Why would I want that?"

"In case you want some alone time with Adelaide."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "N…no, no…no."

Craig looked at him strangely for that. It wasn't that hard to see that the Doctor looked at Adelaide every time she turned away from him or reached for her hand every time she was close enough. And the same was true for her. "Alright…"

"Don't touch that rot, Craig," Adelaide said, standing. "The Doctor and I will look at it later but, until then, just leave it alone."

Craig nodded and left them to go to their room, Adelaide pulling out her cell phone as she went. She'd barely used it since becoming a Time Lady again, but it had been quite helpful for the Doctor to use to hook their listening devices to the TARDIS.

"Earth to Pond," the Doctor said into his earpiece, "Earth to Pond. Come in, Pond."

"Doctor!" Amy said loudly, both Time Lords wincing from the feedback. "Oh! Sorry."

"Could you not wreck my new earpiece, Pond?" the Doctor groaned. "Please." That last bit came from Adelaide's expression. "How's the TARDIS coping?"

"See for yourself." Even Adelaide, who didn't know the most about a Type 40 TARDIS, knew that that wasn't a good sound.

The Doctor grimaced. "Ooo, nasty. She's locked in a materialization loop, trying to land again but she can't."

"And whatever's stopping her is upstairs in that flat. So, go upstairs and sort it."

"We don't know what it is yet," Adelaide reminded Amy. "We can't just go wandering up there. If it's something that can stop the TARDIS from landing, it's big."

The Doctor nodded. "Scary big."

"Wait. Are you scared?"

"We can't go up there until we know what it is and how to deal with it," Adelaide explained. "Which means whoever's upstairs can't realize who and what we are."

"So no sonicing. No advanced technology. We can only use this because we're on scramble. To anyone else hearing this conversation, we're talking absolute gibberish."

"All the Doctor needs to do is attempt to pass as an ordinary human," Adelaide finished.

"Simple. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Everything." The Doctor pouted at that.

"Have you seen you?" Amy agreed.

The Doctor moved to the mirror. "Well, if you're both just going to be snide…no helpful hints?"

"Hmm. Well, here's one. Bowtie, get rid."

He frowned, tweaking it. "Bowties are cool. Come on, Amy, I'm a normal bloke. Tell me what normal blokes do."

Amy sighed. "They watch telly, they play football, they go down the pub."

"I could do those things. I don't but I could." There was a loud crash from upstairs and Amy screamed. "Amy!"

Adelaide looked over at the clock beside the bed. "Localized time loop."

"Ow!" Amy said, everything settling for a second. "What's all that?"

"Time distortion. What's happening upstairs is still affecting you."

Amy screamed again. "It's stopped…ish. How about your end?"

The Doctor looked up at the ceiling. "Our end's good."

"So doesn't sound great, but nothing to worry about?"

"No, no, no, not really. Just keep the zigzag plotter on full, that'll protect you."

"Ow!" Amy cried.

"Zigzag plotter," Adelaide said.

"I pulled the zigzag plotter."

"What, you're standing with the door behind you?"

"Yes."

"Okay, take two steps to your right and pull it again." That time it was quiet, and the Doctor stepped closer to Adelaide. "Now, we can't use our sonics, but we've got work to do. Need to pick up a few items."

|C-S|

Adelaide was slightly impressed that the Doctor got quite a bit more focused when the TARDIS was in danger. She'd noticed it earlier with building the ear pieces; he'd done that far quicker than she'd seen him ever do anything else. Of course, that focus was mainly limited to the technology side of things, since his social skills were pretty much forgotten at the moment.

Thankfully, Adelaide was there to remind him to actually pay for what they'd gotten and not just steal a shopping cart.

They returned to Craig's home with quite a bit of equipment and set to work. Adelaide may never have really studied time distortion, as she'd told the Doctor, but she remembered everything they'd learned in Prydonian.

Which had gotten the Doctor distracted again once he'd realized they'd been at the Academy at overlapping times and she would thus remember various events and professors.

It took Adelaide three hours to get him back on track.

|C-S|

The next morning, Adelaide forced the Doctor to take a shower after he'd somehow managed to spill a bottle of cologne that they'd found in one of the drawers all over himself. He was a bit annoyed that she was forcing him, claiming he smelled wonderful, but she just threw a towel at him.

She was still working, attempting to block out his terrible singing, when she finally heard Craig emerge from his section of the home. "Doctor," Craig said, knocking on the door.

"Hello?"

"How long are you going to be in there?"

"Oh, sorry. I like a good soak."

There was a loud bang from the second floor and Adelaide paused, looking up at the ceiling. "What the hell was that?" Craig called.

"What did you say?" the Doctor asked.

"I'm just going to go upstairs." Adelaide stood, hurrying out of the room. "See if he's okay."

"Sorry?" the Doctor said. "What did you say? Craig?"

"Craig?" Adelaide called up after Craig, making the man turn. "What happened?"

"I heard a big bang. Just wanted to check that he's still okay." Craig turned back to the door. "It's me from downstairs. I heard a big bang."

There was a silhouette in the door window, but Adelaide couldn't see any defining features. "Thank you, Craig, but I don't need your help."

There was a loud sound behind them and Adelaide turned to see the Doctor, wearing only a towel and brandishing a toothbrush, frantically running out of the bathroom. Adelaide stepped to the side as he ran up, watching with raised eyebrows. "What happened, what's going on?"

Craig frowned at him. "Is that my toothbrush?"

The Doctor held up the brush and Adelaide was almost certain he'd been reaching for the sonic. "Correct. You spoke to the man upstairs?"

Adelaide nodded. "Yes, he did."

The Doctor turned to her. "What did he look like?"

"We couldn't really see him."

"What are you doing?"

The Doctor turned back to Craig. "I thought you might be in trouble."

Craig leaned back slightly in surprise. "Thanks. Well, if I ever am, you can come and save me with my toothbrush." He made eye contact with Adelaide and the Time Lady shook her head, sighing in the direction of the Doctor. A phone rang inside Craig's flat and the man managed to get around the Doctor to go answer it.

"Go put some clothes on," she told the Doctor. He made a pointed look at the upstairs door. "We can't do anything yet, Doctor, remember." She pushed him back towards the bathroom. "Clothes, now." Thankfully, he'd left before the front door opened and Sophie entered.

"Oh!" the woman said, her eyes widening. "Hello."

Adelaide smiled. "Hello, I'm Adelaide. One of Craig's new housemates." She nodded towards the room her and the Doctor shared. "You must be Sophie."

Sophie nodded. "Is Craig here?"

Adelaide pointed towards where Craig had gone and Sophie hurried off, the Doctor re-entering the corridor, thankfully now clothed, as she left. Adelaide tried to stop him from going into the room, but the Doctor just went in anyways, which meant she had to follow him.

"No, Dom's in Malta," Craig was saying. "There's nobody around. Hang on a sec." He looked up. "We've got a match today, pub league. We're one down if you fancy it?"

The Doctor frowned. "Pub league. A drinking competition?"

Craig gave a shaky laugh. "No, football. Play football."

The Doctor nodded. "Football. Football. Yes, blokes play football. I'm good at football, I think."

Craig grinned. "You've saved my life." He turned back to the phone. "I've got somebody. Yeah, all right, I'll see you down there." He hung up and looked to Sophie, smiling. "Hey, Soph."

"Hey, I thought I'd come early and meet your new flatmates."

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said, moving forwards but Adelaide grabbed his arm to keep him back. She'd reminded him that air kisses were not how humans greeted each other in this part of their history, but she wasn't that surprised he'd forgotten.

"Do you play, Sophie?" Adelaide said to stop the woman from looking at the Doctor too oddly.

"No, Soph just stands on the sidelines," Craig answered for her. "She's my mascot."

"I'm your mascot?" she turned to him. "Mascot?"

"Well, yeah, not my mascot. It's a football match. I can't take a date."

"I didn't say I was your date."

"Neither did I."

Adelaide coughed, directing the Doctor towards the door. "Better get ready."

"The spare kit's just in the bottom drawer."

The Doctor nodded. "Bit of a mess," he left the room and they heard the door close.

Craig turned to Sophie. "What do you think?"

"You didn't say he was gorgeous!" the woman whispered it, but Adelaide still heard it.

She swallowed hard and moved towards the door. Sophie's statement shouldn't have bothered her, there was no reason for it to have bothered her at all. The Doctor was her friend, only her friend, and she could admit he was cute. She was only bothered because Craig liked Sophie. Yes, that was it.

That was all.

She didn't have an overwhelming feeling to tell Sophie that the Doctor was her's, back off, because he wasn't. He never would be because no matter how much Caroline had loved him, she was Adelaide now. She had to remember to be Adelaide now.

Adelaide didn't fall in love. Adelaide really didn't even have friends.

She'd just reached the doorway when the Doctor had reappeared. "What do you want now?"

"How'd she get in? He still has her keys."

Adelaide thought for a moment. "She had a set when I saw her."

"Two sets of keys to someone else's house?" He nodded. "She must like it here too."

Adelaide sighed. "Go get dressed." She turned back to Craig and Sophie and their expressions made it clear that they had been able to hear her and the Doctor's conversation. "He's very curious."

Sophie nodded. "Are the two of you…"

Adelaide swallowed hard. "Once. But not anymore."

Never again.

|C-S|

The group entered the park, the Doctor still with his tweed jacket over his uniform.

"What are you actually called?" Craig asked him. "What's your proper name?"

"Just call me the Doctor."

Sophie laughed. "Yeah."

"I can't go up to these guys and say, 'Hey, this is my new flatmate, he's called the Doctor'."

"Why not?"

"Because it's weird." Craig brought them to a group of men dressed in the same uniform as Craig and the Doctor.

"All right, Craig," one of the men said, slapping Craig's hand. "Soph." Then to the Doctor. "All right, mate."

"Hello, I'm Craig's new flatmate. I'm called the Doctor." Adelaide grabbed the Doctor's shoulder before he could actually do the air kisses he'd been moving for.

The man chuckled. "All right, Doctor. I'm Sean." He looked towards Adelaide, looking her up and down...and making the Doctor move to stand more in front of Adelaide.

"Adelaide. Craig's other flatmate."

Sean nodded, looking back at the Doctor. "So, where are you strongest?"

"Arms."

Craig leaned forward. "No, he means what position on the field."

"Not sure. The front? The side? Below?"

Sean raised his eyebrows. "Are you any good thought?"

The Doctor spun the ball he'd been holding on his finger. "Let's find out." He kicked the ball out onto the field.

"Jacket!" Adelaide called after him. She knew he didn't like not being in the flat, she didn't like leaving either, but they couldn't have the man upstairs getting suspicious about them. The Doctor was strange enough as it was, they couldn't make it more obvious by never leaving the house.

The Doctor turned and immediately returned to Adelaide, shrugging off his jacket and handing it to her. A few of them chuckled but the Time Lords didn't seem to hear them because they were far too busy focusing on not letting them linger too long in this position because that wouldn't be good for anyone.

 **A/N: Ultimate bonding for our two Time Lords :)**

 **If anyone's interested, I've recently posted Polyvores for Adelaide's previous regenerations. You can see the faces of her regenerations if you go to my Tumblr, but hopefully the Polyvores help you get more of a sense of the type of person she used to be.**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _AxidentlGoddess: The question of how much of Adelaide was in Caroline and vice versa will continue to be brought up throughout this series, with a variety of different results. Currently, the Doctor can see the bits he'd really fallen in love with from Caroline in Adelaide (that's what I meant with 'shifted', but I can completely see that there was probably a better way to phrase it), but Adelaide can also see all the bits she'd hated about Caroline in herself now...don't want to spoil anything else ;)_


	22. Confessions

**Confessions**

It appeared, despite having never played the game before, the Doctor was quite good. Adelaide wasn't that surprised since there had been a game on Gallifrey that she knew - based on what she remembered from being Caroline and what she could see now - had been quite similar.

The entire team - and most of the spectators - were cheering on the Doctor by the end of the game, especially once they won. Adelaide even gave him a hug when he ran over before they were both waved over by the rest of the team, who were all drinking beers.

"You are so on the team," Sean laughed, clapping the Doctor on the shoulder. "Next week we've got the Crown and Anchor. We're going to annihilate them."

The Doctor's face fell and his grip on Adelaide's hand tightened. "Annihilate? No. No violence, do you understand me? Not while we're around. Not today, not ever. I'm the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm…"

"Doctor," Adelaide said quietly, "they meant beat them in a football match."

Sean nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Lovely. What sort of time?"

Before Sean could say anything, Craig opened a can and sprayed all over himself, making everyone but the Time Lords laugh as they watched it happen again, and again, and again.

"Amy?" Adelaide said, tapping the earpiece as they stepped away. "Amy?"

"It's happening again," Amy said. "Worse."

"What does the scanner say?"

"A lot of nines. Is it good that they're nines? Tell me it's good that they're all nines."

"Yes, yes, it's…it's good." The Time Lords exchanged a worried look. "Zigzag plotter. Zigzag plotter, Amy." They heard the TARDIS jerk and Amy scream. "Amy? Are you there? Amy?"

It took a few seconds, but Amy spoke. "Yes. Hello."

The Doctor sighed. "Oh, thank heavens. I thought for a moment the TARDIS had been flung off into the vortex with you inside it, lost forever."

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "I thought we weren't going to tell her that was possible."

"What, you mean that could actually happen? You've got to get me out of here!"

"How are the numbers?"

"All fives."

They glanced over at the group, thankful the time loop had ended. "Fives? Even better. Still, it means the effect's almost unbelievably powerful and dangerous…" he glanced at Adelaide again, "but don't worry. Hang on, okay? We've got some rewiring to do."

"Hey!" Amy called, but they'd already ended the conversation.

|C-S|

The Time Lords were sitting on opposite sides of their room working on the scanner when there was a knock. Adelaide immediately stood, being the one closest to the door, and opened it, leaning in a way that kept Craig from being able to see what they were working on. "Hello, Craig. What can we do for you?"

"Er…listen…er…Sophie's coming round tonight and I was wondering if you two could give us some space."

Adelaide smiled. "Of course. We'll get out of your hair tonight."

Craig nodded and turned just as there was a loud bang upstairs, making Adelaide look up at it, though she said nothing.

But, of course, both Time Lords did have a very bad sense of relative time passing, especially when they were focused on a task, and too late did Adelaide realize exactly when it was. She'd been planning on dragging the Doctor out of the building for a few hours to give the humans some space as requested, but when she suggested it to the Doctor he found it a terrible idea, as she'd guessed he would.

She'd only turned around to look for his jacket, which he'd removed at some point while working, in order to coax him outside when she heard the door open and the Doctor make his way towards where Craig and Sophie would be.

Adelaide immediately rushed to try and stop him, but she was just a bit too slow because by the time she'd arrived the Doctor was popping up from behind the sofa, clearly attempting to sneak into the room for something. "Hello," he said brightly, and Adelaide rubbed her forehead.

"What?"

"Whoops…" thankfully, comparing the situation and Adelaide's expression, the Doctor made a quick guess about what he'd just interrupted. "Sorry. Don't worry, I wasn't listening…"

"I thought you were going out?" Craig looked up at Adelaide, looking slightly betrayed.

"I am so sorry." Adelaide shook her head. "He's like a child."

"Just re-connecting all the electrics. It's a real mess." The Doctor held up a normal screwdriver. "Where's the on switch for this?"

Adelaide moved forward. "We're really just on our way out…"

"No, I don't mind," Sophie said, smiling at them before looking at Craig. "I mean, if you don't mind."

Craig shrugged. "I don't mind. Why would I mind?"

Sophie nodded. "Then stay. Have a drink with us."

"What?" the Doctor looked at Adelaide. "Do I have to stay now?"

"Craig?"

The man sighed. "Do you want to stay?"

"I don't mind…" the Doctor tried, a bit uncertain.

"Okay."

Craig forced a smile. "Great."

|C-S|

The Doctor and Adelaide sat on opposite sides of the room with the humans on the middle sofa, drinking wine. The Doctor was messing with a load of wires around his neck and Adelaide was trying to get a look at the mold without being too obvious.

"Because life can seem pointless, you know, Doctor," Sophie was saying. "Work, weekend, work, weekend. And there's six billion people on the planet doing pretty much the same."

"Six billion people," the Doctor nodded. "Watching you two at work, I'm starting to wonder where they all come from." He looked up at Adelaide and winced at the expression she shot him.

Sophie didn't catch it. "Huh? What do you mean by that?"

Adelaide leaned forward. "So if it's not the call center, what do you really want to do?"

Sophie turned to her. "Don't laugh. I only ever told Craig about it. I want to work looking after animals. Maybe abroad? I saw this orangutan sanctuary on telly."

Adelaide smiled. "Sounds wonderful. What's stopping you?"

"She can't," Craig said. "You need loads of qualifications."

Sophie nodded. "Yeah, true. Plus it's scary. Everyone I know lives round here. Like, Craig got offered a job in London. Better money. He didn't take it."

"What's wrong with staying here? I can't see the point of London."

The Doctor met Adelaide's eyes and the Time Lady nodded, taking a guess at what he was going to attempt. "Well, perhaps that's you, then. Perhaps you'll just have to stay here, secure and a little bit miserable, till the day you drop. Better than trying and failing, eh?"

Sophie frowned. "You think I'd fail?"

"Everybody's got dreams, Sophie. Very few are going to achieve them, so why pretend?" he sipped a bit of wine before spitting it back into the glass. "Perhaps in the whole wide world, a call center is where you should be."

Sophie shook her head. "Why are you saying that? That's horrible."

"Is it true?"

"Of course it's not true. I'm not staying in a call center all my life, I can do anything I want." The Time Lords grinned, Sophie realizing what the Doctor had been getting at. "Oh, yeah, Right. Oh, my God. Did you see what he just did?"

Craig frowned, shaking his head. "No, sorry, what's happening? Are you going to live with monkeys now?"

"It's a big universe," Adelaide said. "You need to think about what's really keeping you here."

"I don't know," Sophie shrugged. "I don't know."

|C-S|

They stood before the scanner they'd built, eyeing it carefully. It wasn't what they'd expected, but it was the best two Time Lords who had never paid that much attention in those lessons from the Academy could do with only human technology.

"Right," the Doctor nodded. "Shield's up. Let's scan."

"What are you getting?" Amy asked them.

"Upstairs." They frowned. "No traces of high technology."

Adelaide shook her head. "It can't be totally normal. That's not a thing."

"Only for you could totally normal be a problem," Amy said. "You said I could be lost forever. Just go upstairs."

"Without knowing and get ourselves killed? Then you really are lost."

Adelaide paused, looking back towards the door. "We need a spy."

The Doctor's eyes widened and he nodded. "Use the data bank. Get us the plans of this building. We need to know its history, the layout, everything."

|C-S|

The next morning, Adelaide managed to convince the Doctor to make Craig breakfast for interrupting his date the previous night, but then the Doctor had got it in his head that the best way to proceed would be to bring the breakfast to Craig while he was still in bed.

After ensuring he had nothing dangerous on the tray Adelaide sent him on his way, turning back to look at the mold, only for the Doctor to scream. She spun around again, not even denying her panic at the Doctor being in danger, when the Time Lord ran back into the kitchen. "He touched it!"

"Reverse the enzyme decay," Adelaide said instantly, not needing him to actually say what the 'it' was. "Excite the tannin molecules."

The Doctor nodded and began to stuff as many teabags as he could reach into the teapot before running back to Craig, Adelaide following that time.

Craig sputtered as the Doctor poured the tea into his mouth, but Adelaide was just glad he was still alive. "I've got to go to work."

"On no account. You need rest." The Doctor tipped the tea again. "One more."

"It's the planning meeting. It's important," Craig tried again.

"You're important," Adelaide reminded him. "You're going to be fine, but you need to rest."

Thankfully Craig did and the Time Lords left him to rest, agreeing on what they needed to do.

|C-S|

The Doctor had a bit of a shock when he realized how good Adelaide could be at working the calls, having apparently forgotten she'd been a human with a similar job for a while. She'd just sent him off to get people tea, though she still didn't know how that had evolved into him presenting Craig's plan to the board, giving the man full credit of course.

Thankfully, when they'd arrived and explained that Craig was ill but they were two friends happy to do what they could, Craig's co-workers had been all too happy to let them do the work, especially when Adelaide had been willing to do some of their work when she ran out.

She looked up when she heard Craig speaking. "I'm so sorry, Michael," he was saying to his boss. "I don't know what happened. I've got no excuse."

"If you could excuse me, Mr. Lang," Adelaide said quietly. "I need to pass you onto another representative, my computer seems to be malfunctioning. Terribly sorry."

Craig spotted her. "What's she doing here?" he strode over. "What are you doing here?"

She frowned at him. "Craig, we told you to stay in bed."

"Hello, Craig," the Doctor said brightly, walking up with a cup of tea. "How are you feeling? Had some time to kill. I was curious. Never worked in an office. Never worked in anywhere. Adelaide has though, which is why she's doing most of the work."

Craig shook his head. "You're insane!"

"Leave off Adelaide and the Doctor," Michael said. "I love them. She's been wonderful on the phones and he was brilliant in the planning meeting."

Craig spun on the Doctor. "You went to the planning meeting?"

"Yes. I was your representative."

"Here you go," Sophie said, walking up to them with a plate of biscuits. "I found some custard creams."

The Doctor grinned at her. "Sophie, my hero."

"Hi Craig," Sophie smiled at him. "I went on the web, applied for a wildlife charity thing. They said I could always start as a volunteer straight away. Should I do it?"

"Yeah, great. Yeah, good. Go for it."

"You should rest," Adelaide said, not liking Craig's expression. "Go back to bed, Craig." She paused, typing something on the computer. "Hello, Mr. Joergensen."

The Doctor smiled softly at Adelaide and didn't even notice the practically murderous look Craig was fixing him with, fists clenched by his sides.

|C-S|

The Time Lords returned to see the cat they'd commandeered as a spy coming back down the stairs. The Doctor sat down beside it. "Have you been upstairs? Yes?" he rubbed the cat between the ears. "You can do it. Show me what's up there." Adelaide stood in front of him, watching but knowing the Doctor would tell her what he'd seen. "What's behind that door? Try to show me." He frowned. "Oh, but that doesn't make sense. Ever see anyone go up there? Lots of people? Good, good. What kind of people?" the cat meowed. "People who never came back down. Oh, that's bad. That's very bad."

Adelaide looked over when she heard the door open. "Hello, Craig."

Craig just shook his head at the sight. "I can't take this anymore. I want you both to go." He turned and hurried back into his flat, the Time Lords following him. "You can have this back and all." He shoved the bag of rent at the Doctor, who just threw it over his shoulder.

"What have we done?"

"For a start, talking to a cat."

"Lots of people talk to cats."

"And everybody loves you," Craig poked the Doctor in the chest, "and you're better at football than me and my job, and now Sophie's all 'oh, monkeys, monkeys', and then there's that," he strode over to their room and threw open the door, both following.

"It's…art," the Doctor tried, trying to meet Adelaide's eyes but she was too busy noticing that there was someone walking up the stairs.

She left the room - and the men - and immediately noticed the key ring and the fact the upper flat door had just shut. "That's not good," she mumbled, glancing back at the open door as the two men head butt, the Doctor clearly attempting some very basic psychic transfer. Given Craig's expression, it had worked.

"You're a…" he gestured between them, "from…"

"Shush."

"You've got a TARDIS!"

"Yes, shush. Eleventh." The Doctor pointed towards Adelaide, about to say what face she was on and realizing he actually had no idea.

"Fifth," she provided.

"Right. Okay, specific detail." The Doctor did it again and Adelaide winced. Both men would have quite a headache after this. She glanced back at the door but since no time loop had started they still had a little time. She would have gone up, except the Doctor hadn't told her anything he'd learned from the cat and she really didn't want to go up with no information at all.

"You saw my ad in the paper shop window."

"Yes with this right above it," the Doctor held up the note they'd found. "Which is odd, because Amy hasn't written it yet. Time travel. It can happen."

"That's a scanner. You used non-technological technology of Lammasteen!"

"Shut up!" the Doctor rubbed his head. "I am never, never doing that ever, ever again." He activated the headset. "Amy."

Craig's eyes widened. "That's Amy Pond."

"Oh, of course, you can understand us now. Hurrah. Got those plans yet?"

"Still searching for them."

"I've worked it out, with psychic help from a cat."

Adelaide nodded. "Tell me what you know, now."

The Doctor spun to her. "He's got a time engine in the flat upstairs and he's using innocent people to try and launch it. Whenever he does, they get burnt up, hence the stain on the ceiling."

Adelaide didn't even stop to say anything, turning and sprinting up the stairs. She could vaguely hear the two men shouting downstairs and Amy saying something about floor plans, but she was too busy looking at where Sophie was being pulled towards a messily built central console by a stream of energy.

Sophie looked up, but she looked at something over Adelaide's shoulder. "Craig."

"It's controlling her," Adelaide said, guessing the Doctor would be there as well. "It wants her to touch it."

He came up beside her, using his sonic, which he'd thankfully successfully grabbed that time. "Ah, deadlock seal."

"You've got to do something," Craig tried, but just then Sophie fell back, released.

"What?" the Time Lords frowned. "Why's it let her go? So…okay."

They turned when a hologram appeared. "You will help me."

The Doctor nodded. "Right. Stop. Crashed ship, let's see." He straightened. "Hello. I'm Captain Troy Handsome of International Rescue. Please sate the nature of your emergency."

"The ship has crashed. The crew are dead. A pilot is required."

Adelaide nodded. "You're the emergency crash program. You've been trying different people out."

The hologram flickered between various images. "You will help me. You will help me. You will help me."

"Craig," Sophie said, "what is this? Where am I?"

"Hush," Adelaide said, shocking everyone in the room, but she was a bit too focused on the current situation to really worry about manners. "Human brains aren't going to be strong enough, they just burn. But you're so stupid you're just going to keep repeating a failed experiment without changing the independent variable."

"Seventeen people have been tried. Six billion four hundred thousand and twenty-six remain."

Sophie shook her head. "Seriously, what is going on?"

The Doctor spun to her. "Oh, for goodness sake. The top floor of Craig's building is, in reality, an alien space ship intent on slaughtering the population of this planet. Any questions? No, good."

"Yes, I have questions…"

"The correct pilot has now been found."

The Time Lords grimaced. "Yes, I was a bit worried that you were going to say that."

"Which one of you does it mean?" Craig asked, and there were a few seconds where even the Time Lords didn't know which one of them it would choose.

Then the Doctor was dragged forward and Adelaide was fairly certain she felt her hearts stop. "The correct pilot has been found. The correct pilot has been found. The correct pilot has been found."

"What's happening?" Amy said, but it was quiet in Adelaide's head, barely noticeable.

"It's pulling me in," the Doctor said, grimacing as he tried to pull himself back. "I'm the new pilot."

"Could you do it? Could you fly the ship safely?"

Adelaide shook her head. "He's too much for the ship." Her voice was shaking and she was terrified, absolutely terrified, more terrified than she'd felt in a long time. "His hand touches the panel and the entire solar system explodes."

"The correct pilot has been found."

The Doctor kept his hand hovering a few inches above the controls. "No. Worst choice ever I promise you. Stop this."

"It's getting worse!"

Adelaide's eyes widened and she glanced at Craig, hoping that this would work, that she'd be right because she couldn't lose the Doctor. She wouldn't lose him. "It didn't want you, Craig."

Craig nodded. "I spoke to him and he said I couldn't help him."

"And it didn't want Sophie before but now it does. What's changed?"

The Doctor cried out in pain. "Argh…no, no, I gave her the idea of leaving. It's a machine that needs to leave." He breathed hard. "It wants people who want to escape. And you don't want to leave, Craig. You're Mr. Sofa Man."

"Doctor!"

"Craig, you can shut down the engine." Adelaide didn't take her eyes off the Doctor. "Put your hand on the panel and concentrate on why you want to stay."

Sophie grabbed Craig's arm. "Craig no."

"Will it work?"

"Yes!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Is that a lie?"

The Doctor sighed. "Of course it's a lie."

Craig straightened. "It's good enough for me. Geronimo!" he slammed his hand down on the console and the Doctor fell away, Adelaide grabbing him instantly. She was shaking, they were both shaking, but they couldn't stop now because now Craig was in danger.

"Craig, what's keeping you here?" the Doctor said. "Think about everything that makes you want to stay here. Why don't you want to leave?"

"Sophie!" Craig closed his eyes as he focused through the pain. "I don't want to leave Sophie. I can't leave Sophie. I love Sophie!"

"I love you too, Craig, you idiot!" Sophie stepped forward and grabbed the console as well, making the entire ship shake.

"Honestly, do you mean that?" Craig turned to Sophie.

"Of course I mean it. Do you mean it?"

"I've always meant it. Seriously though, do you mean it?"

"Yes."

"What about the monkeys?"

The Doctor sighed. "Oh, not now, not again. Craig, the planets about to burn. For God's sake, kiss the girl!"

The humans kissed and their hands slid from the panel, released.

"You've done it!" Amy cheered, Adelaide finally able to really notice what the human was saying to her. "Ha ha! You've gone it! Now the screen's just zeros. Now it's minus ones, minus twos, minus threes. Big yes!"

The hologram clearly began to overload. "Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."

"Big no." The Doctor pulled Adelaide back.

"Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."

"Did we switch if off?" Craig asked.

"Emergency shut down," Adelaide informed them. "It's imploding. We need to get out!"

They all turned and ran out of the house as the building began to shake. When they turned the perception filter that must have been on the second floor faded so they could see the ship, and then that vanished as well.

Craig looked around at the people strolling down the street. "Look at them. Didn't they see that? The whole top floor just vanished."

The Doctor shrugged. "Perception filter. There never was a top floor."

|C-S|

The Time Lords hadn't actually let go of each other's hands for the entire time as they got ready to leave. They hadn't discussed it, just worked with only one hand each. When they went to say goodbye to Craig and Sophie, Adelaide didn't have to force the Doctor to remember to not bother them when they were clearly otherwise engaged. The Doctor just laid the keys on a table before the pair made to leave.

"Oi!" Craig said, making them turn.

"What, you're trying to sneak off?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Yes, well, you were sort of…busy."

Craig held out the set of keys. "I want you to keep these. Thank you."

Adelaide took them. "Thank you."

"Because we might pop back soon, have another little stay."

Craig chuckled. "No, you won't. I've been in your head, remember. I still want you to keep them."

The Doctor smiled. "Thank you, Craig."

"Thank you, Doctor," he nodded at him. "Adelaide." She smiled.

"Now then, six billion four hundred thousand and twenty-six people in the world," the Doctor said, looking at Sophie. "That's the number to beat."

Sophie laughed. "Yeah."

With a final smile, the pair turned and walked off, the TARDIS thankfully not that far away since the had originally landed in the park the Doctor had played football in.

Amy was incredibly thankful to see them both safe, hugging them both, before they all moved to the console. "Back in time," the Doctor said, still working on piloting the TARDIS with one hand. "You need to go to the paper shop and leave that note for us."

"Right little matchmakers, aren't you?" Amy laughed. "Can't you find me a fellow?"

The Time Lords swallowed hard. "Oh, rectifier's playing up again. Hold on."

Adelaide turned to Amy. "You write the note and we'll change the will."

"You got a pen?"

"Check the pocket," Adelaide nodded towards where they'd thrown the Doctor's jacket. "And make certain it's red."

|C-S|

It took another two hours for the Time Lords to finally let go of each other's hands and that was only because Amy had finally decided to ask if anything had...happened while they'd been stuck in a room together as they did seem rather clingy.

That, of course, had caused the Time Lords to avoid each other for the next few hours, but they had ended up underneath the console together, staring at each other.

They ended up together, as they always did.

"You're only on your fifth regeneration," he commented, sounding vaguely impressed.

Adelaide shrugged. "I managed to stay out of more danger then you." She paused, thinking for a moment. "Most of the time."

"But the war…"

"I told you. I hid."

"How old are you?"

Adelaide smiled. "Seven hundred and twenty three, last count." The Doctor's eyes widened. "We were at the Academy around the same time, but you managed to fit in quite a bit more traveling in before the war finally caught up with you." She sighed. "Getting a license to travel came with the caveat of the other Time Lords knowing where you were pretty much all the time."

"You got a license…"

She laughed. "It did take some time, but I wanted the support of the Time Lords when dealing with other species. Did come in helpful occasionally." Her face fell. "Until, of course, they tried to force me to use my friends to fight a war they weren't a part of. Less helpful."

The Doctor reached out and took her hand, squeezing it.

 **A/N: Adelaide's turn to be terrified for the Doctor's safety. The Time Lords just can't catch a break, can they? ;) I will say, later on we will learn exactly how Adelaide's regenerated each time before but, if anyone's interested, I can put it on my Tumblr now along with her previous faces. Just let me know :)**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _Gammily: We'll actually find out in the next chapter if it helped at all ;)_


	23. One Box

**One Box**

It hadn't been that long since the Doctor had finally learned how old Adelaide was. It was such a simple thing, something he really shouldn't have been bothered about, but he hadn't been able to help himself. Not knowing had just been a constant reminder of how little he knew about the Time Lady traveling with him.

But now that he knew that and which regeneration she was on, it had occurred to him that, really, he knew Adelaide. That he'd known her before he'd known those two facts. That he knew her more than he'd ever thought he'd wanted to, and he knew that he loved her even more then he'd ever expected to.

Adelaide was…wonderful. She was clever and rational and kind and eager and curious and adventurous and caring and understanding and sometimes so utterly annoying because she almost always figured out what had happened before he would. Of course, that wasn't really that annoying, because he loved her for it.

He'd never tell her, he could never tell her, because he knew what she would say. He knew she'd say he was just confusing Adelaide and Caroline, that he was combining the love. But he knew it wasn't that, it couldn't be that.

He could tell the difference between loves. He'd fallen in love with Caroline because of her observations and kindness, but now he knew that that had been Adelaide. He knew how much of the Time Lady had been in his human companion.

But while his love had survived the regeneration and the opening of the fob watch, he had no way of knowing if Adelaide's had done the same.

"Doctor?" Adelaide said, making him look up at her instantly. "Where's Amy?"

He pointed down. "Under the console."

Adelaide glanced down through the glass, watching as Amy huddled over something in her hands. "Is she alright?"

The Doctor looked down as well. "She's been distracted."

She raised her eyebrows. "And you want to distract her from her distraction."

He grinned and bounced over to hang over the edge of the console, looking at Amy upside down. "Vavoom!"

Amy jumped up. "Va-what?"

The Doctor pulled himself back up to the console, setting the specifics while Adelaide just worked on helping keep them steady. She had gotten better at piloting the old TARDIS eventually, though it still wasn't as good as she would have been with a newer version.

"I can't believe I've never thought of this before, it's genius." A few seconds later, the Doctor turned to Amy. "Right. Landed. Come on."

"Where are we?" Amy followed the Time Lords as they made their way to the door.

"Planet One. The oldest planet in the universe." The Doctor looked at Adelaide and was pleased to see she was looking quite excited by the prospect of seeing where they were going. Yes, he'd said he wanted to distract Amy, but he'd also been quite interested in interesting Adelaide. "And there's a cliff of pure diamond, and according to legend, on the cliff there's writing. Letters fifty feet high. A message from the dawn of time and no one knows what it says because no one's ever translated it. Until today."

"What happens today?"

"Us." The Doctor reached out for Adelaide's hand. "The TARDIS can translate anything. All we have to do is open the doors and read the very first words in recorded history." He pulled Adelaide outside onto the tropical planet they'd landed on.

Adelaide just shook her head. "No…"

Carved into a cliff of pure diamond on the oldest planet in the universe were the words 'Hello Sweetie!'.

River Song.

Amy laughed. "Vavoom."

|C-S|

Following the coordinates River had left beneath the message, the three time travelers stepped out of the TARDIS at the edge of a forest. "Right place?" Amy asked, clearly not expecting this.

"Just followed the coordinates on the cliff face." The Doctor nodded. "Earth. Britain. 1:02 am. No, pm. No…" they looked down at the Roman encampment below. "AD."

Amy's eyes widened. "That's a Roman Legion."

Adelaide shrugged. "The Romans invaded Britain several times during this period."

"Oh, I know," Amy nodded. "My favorite topic at school. Invasion of the hot Italians." The Time Lords looked at her oddly. "Yeah, I did get marked down for the title."

As they watched, a Roman soldier ran up to them, out of breath, and knelt with a fist to his chest. "Hail, Ceaser!"

The Doctor gave a small wave. "Hi."

"Welcome to Britain. We are honored by your presence."

He shrugged. "Well, you're only human. Arise, Roman…person."

Amy leaned closer to the Doctor. "Why does he think you're Caesar?"

The soldier straightened, revealing a bit of lipstick on his face. "Cleopatra will see you now."

|C-S|

The Time Lords entered the tent, firmly holding hands, to see River, dressed as Cleopatra, being waited on by a few servants. She looked up when they arrived, smiling. "Hello, sweetie."

"River," Amy said with a smile. "Hi."

"You graffitied the oldest cliff-face in the universe," the Doctor said, crossing his arms. "Adelaide is very cross."

River just looked at Adelaide, shrugging. "You wouldn't answer your phone." She clapped her hands and the servants left, leaving River to stand and hold out a scroll of canvas to the Time Lords.

"What's this?"

"It's a painting. Your friend Vincent." The Doctor grabbed the painting and began to unroll it, Adelaide moving to stay next to him. "One of his final works. He had visions, didn't he? I thought you ought to know about this one."

The Doctor reached for Adelaide's hand, having let go to move towards the table. It was a painting of the TARDIS exploding.

"Doctor?" Amy asked, coming up on the other side. "What is this? Why is it exploding?"

River walked up as well. "I assume it's some kind of warning."

"What, something's going to happen to the TARDIS?"

River shrugged. "It might not be that literal. Anyway, this is where he wanted you. Date and map reference on the door sign, see?"

Adelaide nodded. "Does it have a title?"

"The Pandorica Opens."

Amy frowned. "The Pandorica? What is it?"

"A box, a cage, a prison," River explained. "It was built to contain the most feared thing in all the universe."

"And it's a fairy tale," the Doctor added, "a legend. It can't be real."

"If it is real, it's here and it's opening, and it's got something to do with your TARDIS exploding." Adelaide moved as River spoke, grabbing a map from beside the table. "Hidden, obviously. Buried for centuries. You won't find it on a map."

Adelaide shrugged. "If you buried the most dangerous thing in the universe, you would want to remember precisely where you left it."

|C-S|

The group climbed off their horses when they arrived at the location Adelaide had decided on…Stonehenge. The Time Lords immediately began to sonic the various stones while River pulled out her own scanner.

"How come it's not new?" Amy asked.

"Because it's already old. It's been here thousands of years. No one knows exactly how long."

Amy nodded. "Okay, this Pandorica thing…last time we saw you, you warned us about it, after we climbed out of the Byzantium."

"Spoilers."

She stepped closer. "No, but you told them you'd see them again when the Pandorica opens."

"Maybe I did, but I haven't yet. But I will have." Her scanner made a sound. "Doctor, Adelaide, I'm picking up fry particles everywhere. Energy weapons discharged on this site."

The Doctor climbed onto a large stone. "If the Pandorica is here, it contains the mightiest warrior in history. Now, half the galaxy would want a piece of that. Maybe even fight over it." He pointed down. "We need to get down there."

|C-S|

Once night had fallen and they'd placed lights around the area, River placed a device on the stone the Doctor had stood on and walked back over to the Time Lords. "Right then. Ready?" she pushed a button on her scanner and the rock slid, revealing stone steps underneath.

The Time Lords moved forwards, Adelaide reaching for the Doctor's hand at the sight of the darkness below. "The underhenge." Together, they descended into the darkness, sonics held out until they reached a small room, where the Doctor immediately went for a torch to give to Adelaide. Together, he and River unbarred a large door and they entered, pausing at the sight of a large intricately carved stone box. "It's a Pandorica," the Doctor breathed.

"More than just a fairy tale."

The Doctor froze and looked down, seeing the arm of a Cyberman, before moving forward with Adelaide by his side to study the carvings on the Pandorica. "There was a goblin, or a trickster, or a warrior," the Doctor read. "A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world."

Amy frowned. "How did it end up in there?"

Adelaide smiled. "Like all fairytales, a good wizard tricked it."

River sighed. "I hate good wizards in fairy tales. They always turn out to be one of them," she gestured at the Time Lords.

"So, it's kind of like Pandora's Box, then? Almost the same name."

The Doctor glanced back at her. "Sorry, what?"

"The story. Pandora's Box, with all the worst things in the world in it. That was my favorite book when I was a kid." The Doctor turned and walked closer, leaving Adelaide with the torch, knowing she would be okay. "What's wrong?"

"Your favorite school topic. Your favorite story."

"Never ignore a coincidence," Adelaide called.

"Unless you're busy. In which case, always ignore a coincidence."

"So, can you open it?" River called.

The Doctor nodded. "Easily. Anyone can break into a prison. But I'd rather know what I'm going to find first."

River looked down at her scanner. "You won't have long to wait. It's already opening. There are layers and layers of security protocols in there, and they're being disabled, one by one. Like it's being unlocked from the inside."

Adelaide nodded. "How long do we have?"

"Hours at most."

"What kind of security?"

"Everything. Deadlocks, time stops, mater lines…"

The Doctor frowned. "What could need all that?"

"What could get past all that?"

Adelaide gently reached out and touched the stone. "Think of the fear that went into making this box. What could inspire that level of fear?"

The Doctor stepped back up to her, leaning an ear against the box. "Hello, you. Have we met?"

"So why would it start to open now?" River asked.

"No idea."

"Ahem, and how could Vincent have known about it?" Amy asked. "He won't even be born for centuries."

Adelaide turned and pointed at the stone pillars with her sonic. "The stones. They're giant transmitters, broadcasting a warning to everyone, everywhere, to every time zone: 'The Pandorica is opening'."

River stiffened. "Adelaide…everyone everywhere?"

"Vincent even heard it," Adelaide's voice went quieter as she thought, turning back to look at the Pandorica. "But what could possibly be in here? What could justify all of this?"

"Adelaide, everyone?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Anything that powerful, one of us would know about it." He looked at Adelaide. "Why don't we know?"

"You said everyone could hear it," River hurried up to them, distracting them. "So who else is coming?"

"Oh…"

"Oh? Oh, what?"

River walked over to one of the pillars. "Okay, if it is basically a transmitter, we should be able to fold back the signal."

The Time Lords hurried to other pillars. "Doing it!"

"Doing what?"

"Stonehenge is transmitting," River explained. "It's been transmitting for a while now, so who heard?"

"Okay, should be feeding back to you now," the Doctor called. "River, what's out there?"

"Give me a moment."

"Quickly, River, please," Adelaide said. "Anything?"

River's eyes widened and she drew a breath. "Around this planet there are at least ten thousand starships."

"At least?"

"Ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, I don't know." River shook her head. "There's too many readings."

Adelaide nodded. "What kinds?"

River pressed another button and a Dalek transmission came through the pillars. "Maintaining orbit."

"I obey. Shield over compromised on ion sectors."

"Daleks," Amy whispered. "Those are Daleks."

"Scan detects no temporal activity."

"Soft grid scan commencing."

"Reverse thrust for compensatory stabilization."

River turned to the Time Lords. "Daleks, Doctor, Adelaide."

"Launch preliminary armaments protocol."

The Doctor began to pace, thinking. "Yes, okay, okay, okay, okay. Dalek fleet, minimum twelve thousand battleships, armed to the teeth. Ah!" he pointed at Adelaide. "But we've got surprise on our side. They'll never expect four people to attack twelve thousand Dalek battleships."

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "Because we'd be killed instantly."

The Doctor nodded. "So it would be a fairly short surprise. Forget surprise."

"Doctor, Adelaide, Cyberships."

"No, Dalek ships. Listen to them. Those are Dalek ships."

Adelaide shook her head. "Dalek and Cyberships…turn them on themselves?"

"They're both cross enough," the Doctor shrugged.

"Sontaran," River added. "Four battlefleets."

"Sontarans!" the Doctor threw his hands in the air. "Talk about cross, who stole all their handbags?"

"Terileptil," River continued, "Slitheen, Chelonian, Nestene, Drahvin, Sycorax, Haemogoth, Zygon, Atraxi, Draconian." She looked up at them. "They're all here for the Pandorica."

The Time Lords turned to the Pandorica. "What are you? What could you possibly be?"

The ground began to shake and the group of five ran back up the stairs, looking up at the sky now buzzing with various starships, hundreds of armies descending.

"What do we do?" Amy asked them.

River turned to the Time Lords, walking up to them. "Doctor, Adelaide, listen to me. Everything that ever hated either of you is coming here tonight. You can't win this. You can't even fight it. Doctor, Adelaide, this once, just this one time, please, you have to run."

The Doctor shook his head. "Run where?"

"Fight how?"

Adelaide smirked. "We have access to one of the greatest military machines in the history of the universe."

Amy frowned. "What is? The Daleks?"

Adelaide pointed back in the distance. "The Romans."

|C-S|

The time travelers had returned to underhenge so that the Time Lords could continue to study the Pandorica and Amy could light the other torches. Adelaide was gently running her hands along the sides as she walked around it, growing far more comfortable despite everything that was happening above because it was getting brighter in the room.

"So what's this got to do with the TARDIS?" Amy asked the Doctor, seeing the man step back and deciding to take this chance to speak to him at a volume that wouldn't interrupt Adelaide.

He shrugged. "Nothing, as far as I know."

"But Vincent's painting. The TARDIS was exploding. Is that going to happen?"

"One problem at a time." He stepped forward. "What can you find?"

"There's forcefield technology inside of this," Adelaide mumbled. She may not have been that technologically skilled, focusing more on biology than anything else, but she was still far more logical than the Doctor, she could make faster deductions based on her limited information. "It's possible we could enhance the signal and extend it over Stonehenge." She shrugged. "If my math is right, it would give us thirty minutes."

Amy frowned. "What good is half an hour?"

"There are fruit flies live on Hoppleom Six that live for twenty minutes and they don't even mate for life," the Doctor said before pausing and frowning. "There was going to be a point to that." He pointed at Amy. "I'll get back to you."

After glancing to ensure Adelaide was still focused on the Pandorica, Amy stepped forward to the Doctor's side. "Are you proposing to her?"

The Doctor spun to look at her. "I'm sorry?"

"Are you going to propose to Adelaide?" Amy nodded in the direction of the Time Lady.

"What?" the Doctor didn't deny the thought of marrying Adelaide, or at least entering some relationship with her, was a happy one. But he also knew it could never happen. At least not yet. Not now.

Amy pulled a ring box from her pocket. "I found this in your pocket."

His eyes widened. "No, no, no, that's…er…a memory." He swallowed. "A friend of mine…and Adelaide's. Someone we lost." He reached for the box, but Amy moved back slightly. "Do you mind?"

"It's weird," she whispered, looking down at the box. "I feel…I don't know. Something."

The Doctor glanced back at Adelaide to see the Time Lady watching them curiously, but he couldn't explain anything to her at the moment. "People fall out of the world sometimes, but they always leave traces. Little things we can't quite account for. Faces in photographs, luggage, half eaten meals, rings. Nothing is ever forgotten, not completely. And if something can be remembered, it can come back."

Amy closed the box and held it out for him to take. "So, was she nice, your friend?"

He looked at Adelaide again. "Remember that night you flew away with us?"

Amy nodded. "Of course I do."

"And you asked me why I was taking you and I told you there wasn't a reason. I was lying."

"What, so you did have a reason?"

"Your house."

"My house?"

"It was too big," Adelaide called, making it clear in that moment that she had heard their entire conversation. "There were too many empty rooms."

The Doctor nodded. "Does it ever bother you, Amy, that your life doesn't make any sense?"

 **A/N: The Pandorica is opening. I wonder who exactly will get locked inside ;)**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _Gammily: Oh, Adelaide will certainly be bringing that up quite a bit :)_


	24. Two Miracles

**Two Miracles**

A laser flew past them, nearly hitting the pair. The Doctor grabbed Amy and pulled her behind the Pandorica, grabbing Adelaide as they ran as well.

"What was that?"

He glanced at Adelaide. "Okay, I need a proper look. Got to draw its fire, give it a target."

She raised her eyebrows. "Don't tell me…"

He turned to Amy. "You know how sometimes I have really brilliant ideas?"

"Yes."

"Sorry." And then he ran out into the open, throwing his arms out wide. "Look at me, I'm a target!" whatever was out there shot at him, but he did manage to duck behind a pillar before he got hit.

"What is it?" Adelaide asked him.

"Cyberman. Arm of a Cyberman."

Amy shook her head. "And what's a Cyberman?"

"Oh, sort of part man, part robot. The organic part must have died out years ago. Now the robot part is looking for, well, fresh meat."

"What, us?"

He shrugged. "It's just like being an organ donor, except you're alive and sort of screaming."

"One of us should get around behind it," Adelaide said. "Who wants to draw its fire?"

"What, like he did?"

Her turn to shrug. "It appears you'll be fine if you're quick. There does seem to only be one arm."

The Doctor gave Amy two thumbs up before Amy ran out, screaming, in the opposite direction. He, in turn, stepped out from behind the pillar and grabbed the arm, sonicing it and, possibly, shutting it down. It was quite a dangerous thing to do, but it was one of the only options at the moment.

"Doctor?" Amy called.

"Scrambled its circuits," he said, breathing hard, "but stay where you are, it could be bluffing."

"Bluffing?" Amy scoffed. "It's an arm."

"I said stay where you are!" he held out an arm to keep her back.

Adelaide moved out from behind the pillar, spotting the wires creeping up Amy's leg just before she fell backward, pulled by them, and the Doctor screamed as the arm released a large dose of electricity.

She likely should have given it more thought, but all Adelaide could think about in that moment was that the Doctor was unconscious and she was terrified and she couldn't even consider thinking about anything but running to the Doctor's side. She could vaguely hear a larger Cyberman and Amy screaming, but she didn't care because the Doctor was in danger.

It wasn't real danger, she knew that, she had to know that. But that didn't matter. It was danger at all and that was too much for her to even begin to consider.

She did manage to remember to completely disengage the Cyber arm before it could do more damage.

Slowly, the Doctor began to wake up and Adelaide hugged him. She did, she wasn't beyond admitting that. The Doctor seemed shocked, but he hugged her back, tightly.

"Sir, the man came round," a voice said, making both Time Lords look up quickly to see a few Roman soldiers and one that they actually recognized in the room.

"Rory?" Adelaide said, in shock, but too quiet for the man in question to actually hear her.

"Amy?" the Doctor said, leaning against Adelaide as they stood. "Where's Amy?"

"She's fine," Rory said, gesturing at where Amy was. "Just unconscious."

He nodded. "Okay, yes, she's sedated, that's all. Half an hour, she'll be fine." He turned to look at the soldiers, switching to holding Adelaide's hand again. "Okay, Romans. Good. We were just wishing for Romans, weren't we, Adelaide? Good old River."

"How many?" Adelaide asked Rory.

"Fifty men up top, volunteers. What about that thing?" he pointed at the Cyberman which, when the Time Lords actually looked at it, they saw had been stabbed through the chest with a sword.

"Fifty?" the Doctor scoffed. "You're not exactly a legion."

Rory shrugged. "Your friend was very persuasive, but it's a tough sell."

"Yes, I know that, Rory. I'm not exactly one to miss the obvious. But we need everything we can get." The Doctor stepped away from Adelaide and pulled some CyberWeapons from another chest. "Okay, CyberWeapons. This is basically a sentry box, so headless wonder here was a sentry. Probably got himself duffed up by a locals." He chuckled. "Never underestimate a Celt."

"Doctor…" Rory said slowly, thankfully gathering from Adelaide's confused expression that she'd actually noticed that the companion they'd lost to a crack in time was standing in front of them leading a Roman legion.

"Hush, Rory, thinking." Adelaide coughed. "Sorry. But why leave a Cyberman on guard, unless it's a Cyberthing in the box. But why would they lock up one of their own?" he shook his head. "Okay, no, not a Cyberthing, but what? What? No, I'm missing something obvious, Rory." He turned to look at the man. "Something big. Something right slap in front of me. I can feel it."

Rory nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think you probably are."

The Doctor shrugged. "I'll get it in a minute." He dropped the weapons back in the box and began to walk back to Adelaide before pausing, eyes growing wide, and walking up to Rory in order to poke him in the chest. "Hello again."

"Hello."

"How've you been?"

"Good. Yeah, good. I mean, Roman."

"Rory, I'm not trying to be rude, but you died."

Rory nodded. "Yeah, I know. I was there."

"You died and then you were erased from time. You didn't just die, you were never born at all. You never existed."

He frowned. "Erased? What does that mean?"

Adelaide stepped forward. "How is it possible you're here?"

Rory shrugged. "I don't know. It's kind of fuzzy."

"Fuzzy?"

"Well, I died and turned into a Roman. It's very distracting." Rory looked over at Amy where she was lying on a chest. "Did she miss me?"

Thankfully, the Time Lords were saved from having to answer him by a loud rumbling above them and the entire chamber shaking. The trio ran back into the room with the Pandorica and froze at the sight of the symbols glowing green. The Time Lords hurried to it, sonicing it.

"What is it?" Rory asked. "What's happening?"

"The final phase," the Doctor breathed. "It's opening."

There was a beep from River's bag, which she had left behind. Adelaide hurried over to it, being the closest. "Hello?"

"You're surrounded," River said. "Have you got a plan?"

"Somewhat." Adelaide glanced at the Doctor and he mouthed 'TARDIS'. "Bring the TARDIS here, please. We need the equipment."

The Doctor pressed a hand against the Pandorica. "What are you? They're all here, all of them, all for you. What could you possibly be?"

"If they're all here," Adelaide said, making the Doctor turn to her, "we need to distract them until the Pandorica opens." She knew that, in the general scope of the universe, quite a few of the Doctor and her own enemies (though, thankfully, she didn't have many, having avoided far more trouble than the Doctor could ever dream of attempting) were not antagonistic towards many other races. But they were all here for the Pandorica, which didn't mean anything good.

If they could stall for any length of time, perhaps they'd be able to deal with whatever emerged from the Pandorica before anything too bad happened.

The Doctor grinned. "Then let's distract them." He reached out for her hand and, together, they walked back up to Stonehenge. She soniced River's device before handing it to the Doctor, knowing he was the one who needed to do this. The Doctor turned on the device, preparing to climb on top of a stone, before somehow managing to drop it. "Sorry, sorry, dropped it." He clearly didn't want to let go of Adelaide's hand, but he forced himself to. "Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the Universe. But bad news, everyone…" he leapt up onto the stone "because guess who? Ha! Listen, you lot, you're all whizzing about. It's really very distracting. Could you all please just stay still a minute because I…am…talking!"

Thankfully the ships, and there were quite a few of them, stilled.

"The question of the hour is: who's got the Pandorica? Answer: we do." He pointed down at Adelaide. "Next question. Who's coming to take it from us? Come on! Look at us! No plan, no backup, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else. We don't have anything…to…lose! So, if you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceship, with all your silly little guns, and you've got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who's standing in your way. Remember every black day we ever stopped you, and then, and then, do the smart thing. Let somebody else try first."

He threw his arms out wide and, after a second, all of the ships flew off. The Doctor grinned down at Adelaide, who was watching him with crossed arms. "What do you think?"

"I think they'll be distracted for a good half hour." He leapt off the stone. "For future reference, I didn't do much stopping of dangerous races when I was traveling on my own. It was mainly a scientific endeavor."

The Doctor shrugged. "I was counting on us doing things to them in our future."

"Besides, Gallifrey wouldn't have been too happy if I'd intentionally done anything to antagonize other species." Adelaide gave the Doctor a pointed look but still reached for his hand as they turned to Rory.

The human was watching them curiously, but he still straightened once he saw they were looking at him. "They're still out there. What do we do now?"

"If we can stop whatever's in this box getting out, then they'll go home." The Time Lords turned and made their way back into the underhenge.

Rory nodded. "Right."

"I'm so sorry, Rory, but you're going to have to be brave right now," Adelaide said, watching as Amy walked up to the Time Lords and directly past Rory without giving him a single look.

"Oh, my head," Amy mumbled, rubbing it.

"Go 'aahhh'," the Doctor opened his mouth.

"Aahhh," Amy said, letting the Doctor look into her mouth.

"Just your basic knock-out drops. Get some fresh air, you'll be fine."

Amy glanced up the stairs. "Is it safe up there?"

"Not remotely, but it's fresh." Adelaide elbowed the Doctor in the side. "You'll be somewhat safe."

Amy sighed. "Fine." She moved to walk out and just bumped into Rory, who'd moved right behind her. "Oh, you're the guy, yeah? The one who did the swordy thing." She mimed some of the movements.

Rory nodded, his expression fading. "Yeah."

"Well, thanks for swording." Amy hit his shoulder. "Nice swording."

Rory looked after her as she walked a bit closer to the stairs. "No problem. My men are up there. They'll look after you."

Amy turned back around and nodded at Rory. "Good. Love a Roman."

As soon as Amy was out of earshot, Rory spun to the Time Lords. "She doesn't remember me. How can she not remember me?"

Adelaide held his gaze. "Because you never existed."

"There are cracks," the Doctor continued. "Cracks in time. There's going to be a huge explosion in the future, on one particular day. And every other moment in history is cracking around it."

Rory frowned. "So how does that work? What kind of explosion? What exploded?"

The Doctor swallowed. "Doesn't matter. The cracks are everywhere now. Get too close to them and you can fall right out of the universe."

"So I fell through a crack and now I was never born?"

Adelaide nodded. "Essentially."

"Well, how did I end up here?"

"We don't know. You shouldn't have?"

Adelaide frowned. "What happened? From your perspective, what physically happened to you?"

Rory paused for a second, thinking, before beginning. "I was in the cave, with you and the Doctor and Amy. I was dying, and then I was just here, a Roman soldier. A proper Roman. Head full of Roman stuff. A whole other life, just here like I'd woken up from a dream. I started to think it was a dream, you two and Amy and Leadworth. And then today, in the camp, the men were talking about the visitors. The girl with the red hair. I thought you'd come back for me. But she can't even remember me."

"Oh, shut up," the Doctor said, and Rory may have been more shocked that Adelaide didn't say anything about it.

"What?"

The Doctor threw the ring box Amy had found at Rory. "Go get her."

Rory shook his head. "But I don't understand. Why am I here?"

"Because you are?" the Doctor shrugged. "The Universe is big. It's vast and complicated and ridiculous, and sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles, and that's the theory. Nine hundred years, only…" the Doctor couldn't resist glancing at Adelaide, "only seen one." The Time Lady's eyes widened, but she said nothing. "Now get upstairs! She's Amy and she's surrounded by Romans. I'm not sure history can take it." The Doctor clapped Rory's shoulder and sent him off.

"Did you mean…" Adelaide said slowly, looking at the Doctor, "that you…"

He tightened his grip on her hand, scared she would step away from him because the Doctor didn't think he could bear it if she did. "When the war ended…I thought I'd be alone forever. I had hope, I thought I'd always have hope, but then…you…you saw what happened when I really thought I was, when I had really lost all hope." He turned to look at her. "And then you returned and…"

Adelaide hugged the Doctor as tightly as she possibly could. She didn't want him to leave her either.

The universe hummed with pleasure.

|C-S|

The Time Lords had returned to the Pandorica, holding hands again, when River's communicator beeped. "The TARDIS," the Doctor said as he answered it, "where is it? Hurry up!"

"Don't raise your voice, don't look alarmed, just listen," River said quietly. "They're not real. They can't be. They're all right here in the story book. Those actual Romans. The ones I sent you, the ones you're with right now. They're all in a book in Amy's house. A children's picture book. And I think something else had been here…"

The Doctor frowned. "What are you even doing there?"

"It doesn't matter. The TARDIS went wrong. How is this possible?"

The Time Lords looked at each other. "Amy's memories," Adelaide said.

"But how?"

"You said something had been there."

"Yes. There's burn marks on the grass outside. Landing patterns."

Adelaide nodded. "Psychic residue. They must have taken an image of her memories. But why?"

"Who are those Romans?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Projections, or duplicates."

"But they were helping us. My lipstick even worked."

"They might think they're real," the Doctor said, thinking of Bracewell. "The perfect disguise. They actually believe their own cover story, right until they're activated."

"That Centurion…there's a picture of him here…it's a trap, it has to be. They used Amy to construct a scenario you'd believe, to get close to you."

"Why? Who'd do that? What for? It doesn't make sense." Something where River was crashed and she shouted. "River? River? River, what's happening?"

"I don't know. It's the engines, there's something wrong with the TARDIS, like something else is controlling it."

The Doctor frowned. "You're flying it wrong."

"I'm flying it perfectly! You taught me!"

"Where are you?" the Doctor asked quickly. "What's the date reading?"

"It's the 26th of June, 2010."

The Time Lords froze. "You need to get out of there now! Any other time zone, just go."

There was another crash. "I can't break free."

"Then shut down the TARDIS," Adelaide tried. "Just shut down everything."

"I can't!"

"Silence will fall. Silence will fall." That wasn't River.

"Someone else is flying it," River cut in again. "An external force. I've lost control."

"But how? Why?" There was a high pitched sound and the Time Lords cringed, waiting until it had faded before speaking again. "Listen to me, just land her anywhere. Emergency landing, now."

Adelaide nodded. "There are cracks in time. We've seen them everywhere and they're getting wider. It must be the TARDIS exploding, but it's possible we can stop them from ever happening if you can land her."

"It's not safe."

Suddenly, there was a bright light and the Time Lords stepped back from the Pandorica as two sides slid away from one of the corners. It was was time.

It was time.

"Well, now," the Doctor breathed. "Ready to come out, are we?"

"I'm down!" River called. "I've landed!"

The Doctor nodded. "Okay, just walk out of the doors. If there's no one inside, the TARDIS engines shut down automatically. Just get out of there."

"I'm going."

"Run!" They stepped forward, the Time Lords holding out their sonics to scan the Pandorica.

"I can't open the doors!"

Out of the corner of her eyes Adelaide saw the soldiers advancing, but it wasn't enough time for them to do anything before the soldiers grabbed their arms, pulling them away from the Pandorica.

"I can't open the doors!" River called, but no one could hear her, no one could do anything to help. "Please, I've got seconds!"

"Plastic Romans," the Doctor laughed. "Duplicates, driven by the Nestene Consciousness, eh? Deep cover, but what for? What are you doing? What's in there, eh? What's coming out?"

"The Pandorica is ready," one of the soldiers said.

"What, do you mean it's open?"

"You have been scanned," and the Time Lords instantly recognized the voice of a Dalek, "assessed, understood. The Doctor. The Protector."

The soldiers holding them turned the Time Lords so that they could see the three Daleks, but not much more. "Scanned by a box?" Adelaide said, frowning.

"Your limits and capacities have been extrapolated," a Cyberman said, appearing, along with Judoon and Sontarans.

"The Pandorica is ready," a Sontaran said.

"Ready for what?" the Doctor asked, Adelaide reconsidering her statement that she didn't have many enemies. Quite a few of those races would have killed her on sight, even as a human if she had been in another body when she'd met them.

"Ready for you."

The soldiers began to move forwards, dragging the Doctor towards the Pandorica, which they could now see contained a chair covered in restraints. But they kept Adelaide where she was, watching as the Doctor was fastened into place.

"You lot," he breathed hard, glaring at the gathered aliens. "Working together. An alliance. How is that possible?"

"The cracks in the skin of the universe," the Dalek explained.

"All reality is threatened."

"All universes will be deleted."

"What? And you've come to us for help?"

Adelaide didn't have enough time to say anything to the Doctor before the Sontaran spoke again. "No. We will save the universe from you!"

"From us?"

"All projections correlate," the Cyberman said. "All evidence concurs. The Doctor will destroy the universe and the Protector can not stop him."

"No, no, no. You've got it wrong!"

"The Pandorica was constructed to ensure the safety of the Alliance."

"A scenario was devised from the memories of your companion."

"A trap even the Doctor couldn't resist."

"The cracks in time are the work of the Doctor. It is confirmed."

The Doctor shook his head. "No. No, no, not me, the TARDIS. And I'm not in the TARDIS, am I?"

"Only the Doctor and the Protector can pilot the TARDIS, but the Protector will not harm the universe."

"Please, listen to me!"

"You will be prevented."

"Total event collapse!" the Doctor tried, wishing Adelaide would say something, anything, even though he knew his efforts were futile and he knew that was why she was silent. She was just watching him, the soldiers not even needing to hold her in place now. "Every sun will supernova at every moment in history. The whole universe will never have existed. Please, listen to me!"

"Seal the Pandorica."

"No! Please, listen to me! The TARDIS is exploding right now and we're the only ones who can stop it! Listen to me!"

But the Pandorica shut.

And the universe broke.

 **A/N: What's this, Adelaide's being called the Protector by the Alliance? Whatever could this mean for the future of the Time Lords Victorious?**


	25. Three Companions

**Three Companions**

Adelaide returned to consciousness as the Pandorica opened, meeting the Doctor's gaze across the room before they both looked at the man responsible for it. "How did you do that?" Rory was holding a sonic.

"You gave me this," Rory told them, holding up the sonic as Adelaide stood.

"No, I didn't," the Doctor pulled his sonic from his pocket.

"You did. Look at it." Rory held it out and the Doctor touched his sonic to that one, making them spark.

"Temporal energy." He nodded. "Same screwdriver at different points in its own time stream. Which means it was me who gave it to you. Me from the future." He chuckled. "I've got a future. That's nice."

"That's not," Adelaide said, nodding at the fossilized remains of everyone who'd shut him into the Pandorica as she picked her way through them.

Rory turned to look at the one closest to him. Yeah. What are they?"

"History collapsed," Adelaide moved towards one, looking closer but not touching. "Whole races have been deleted from existence and these are just echoes of what once was."

"The footprints of the never-were," the Doctor added.

"Er…" Rory looked between them, "what does that mean?"

"Total event collapse. The universe literally never happened."

"So, how can we be here? What's keeping us safe?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Nothing. Eye of the storm, that's all. We're just the last light to go out." He looked around the room, noticing something, for one of the first times, which Adelaide had missed. "Amy. Where's Amy?"

|C-S|

The Time Lords knelt beside Amy's body, Rory standing behind them. "I killed her," Rory breathed.

"Oh, Rory."

"What am I?"

Adelaide turned to look at him. "You're a Nestene duplicate."

"A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity."

Rory shook his head. "But I'm Rory now. Whatever was happening, it's stopped. I'm Rory."

"That's software talking."

Rory looked down at Amy's body. "Can you help her? Is there anything you can do?"

The Doctor shrugged, standing, leaving Adelaide kneeling beside Amy. "Yeah, probably, if we had the time."

"The time?"

"All of creation has just been wiped from the sky," the Doctor gestured to the blackness above. "Do you know how many lives now never happened? All the people who never lived? Your girlfriend isn't more important than the whole universe."

Rory suddenly turned and punched the Doctor squarely in the jaw, sending him to the ground. Adelaide just raised her eyebrows at the two men. "She is to me!"

The Doctor leapt back up, grinning. "Welcome back, Rory Williams! Sorry. Had to be sure." He rubbed his jaw. "Hell of a gun-arm you're packing there."

"We need to get her downstairs," Adelaide said, standing. "No need to look like that, Rory."

"You're getting married in the morning!"

The Doctor lifted Amy and carried her down to the Pandorica, Adelaide helping the Doctor secure her into the Doctor's chair. Rory stood behind them, looking nervous. "So you've got a plan, then?"

He shrugged. "Bit of a plan, yeah. Memories are more powerful than you think, and Amy Pond is not an ordinary girl."

Adelaide nodded. "She grew up with a time crack in her wall and the universe pouring through her dreams every night."

"The Nestenes took a memory print of her and got a bit more than they bargained for, like you," the Doctor gestured to Rory. "Not just your face, but your heart and your soul." He turned and, taking Amy's shoulders, pressed his forehead to her's. "I'm leaving her a message for when she wakes up, so she knows what's happening."

When he stepped back, Adelaide flashed her sonic to close the Pandorica.

Rory grabbed her arm. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?"

"Saving her. The Pandorica refuses to let you die once you're inside. It forces you to stay alive."

"But she's already dead."

"Almost dead," Adelaide corrected. "The Pandorica will stasis-lock her in that state. It simply needs a scan of her living DNA and it'll restore her."

"Where's it going to get that?"

The Doctor glanced at his watch. "In about two thousand years." He walked over to River's bag and pulled out the Vortex Manipulator they'd seen earlier, strapping it to his wrist.

"She's going to be in that box for two thousand years?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but we're taking a shortcut." He held up his wrist. "River's Vortex Manipulator. Rubbish way to time travel, but the universe is tiny now. We'll be fine."

"The future's still there, then? Our world."

"A version of it. Not quite the one you know."

Adelaide nodded upwards. "Earth is all alone in the sky."

The Doctor grinned. "Let's go and have a look." He held out his wrist, but Rory didn't move to take it. "You put your hand there. Don't worry, should be safe."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Rory looked back at the Pandorica.

"She's going to be fine," Adelaide told him. "Nothing can get into the Pandorica."

"Well, you got in there."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, there's only one of us. I counted."

"This box needs a guard. I killed the last one."

The Time Lord's eyes widened. "No. Rory, no. Don't even think about it."

"She'll be all alone."

"She won't feel it."

"You bet she won't!"

"Two thousand years, Rory. You won't even sleep. You'd be conscious every second. It would drive you mad."

"Will she be safer if I stay?" the Doctor looked away. "Look me in the eye and tell me she wouldn't be safer!"

"Rory, you…"

"Answer me!"

"Yes," Adelaide said quietly. "She would."

Rory shook his head. "Then how could I leave her?"

The Doctor sighed. "Why do you have to be so human?"

"Because right now, I'm not." Rory turned and walked over to the Pandorica.

"It's not that human," Adelaide mumbled, making the Doctor glance at her. "Wanting to ensure the person you love is as safe as they could possibly be. Wanting to protect them from any possible threat." She swallowed and took the Doctor's hand. The Time Lord said nothing, but he had to fight not hugging her in that moment, or at least not confessing his feelings. "This is going to be the last bit of advice you're going to have in a while," Adelaide said to Rory, speaking louder. "You're living plastic, but you're not immortal or indestructible. There's no knowing how long you're going to last. But any damage is permanent. So please, try to stay out of…"

And then they vanished, reappearing inside the National Museum almost 2000 years later.

"…trouble," Adelaide finished, turning to look at the Doctor, about to scold him, when they both spot the Dalek behind them.

"Oh," the Doctor said, seeing an older and younger Amy Pond. "Ah, two of you. Complicated."

"Exterminate!" the Dalek called. "Weapons systems restoring."

The Time Lords ran forwards, each grabbing one of the Amy's hands. "Come along, Ponds!" They ran across the room and around the Pandorica.

"Exterminate!"

They ran into a display, the Doctor somehow managing to run right into one of the mannequins. He grabbed the fez before it fell, putting it on his head.

"What are we doing?" Amy asked them.

"Well, we are running into a dead end, where Adelaide or I'll have a brilliant plan, that basically involves not being in one."

"What's going on?" a man called.

The Doctor ran around the Pandorica, spotting the night watchman. "Get out of here!" he called, the man pointing his torch at the Dalek. "Go! Just run!"

"Drop the device!" the Dalek ordered, spinning on the watchman.

"It's not a weapon," the Doctor tried. "Scan it. It's not a weapon, and you don't have the power to waste."

"Scans indicate intruder unarmed."

"Do you think?" the watchman said, dropping the torch and opening his hand to reveal a gun. He fired at the Dalek's eyestalk.

"Vision impaired! Vision…" as the Dalek powered down, the watchman stepped out of the shadows to reveal Rory, which Adelaide had guessed the first time she'd heard the watchman's voice.

The Time Lords moved closer to the Dalek, sonicing it, as Amy stepped out from behind the Pandorica. "Amy!" Rory said, surprised.

"Rory!" Amy ran over to Rory and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry," he pulled back. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It just happened."

"Oh, shut up!" And he did so, quite quickly, when Amy kissed him.

The Doctor, however, didn't give them that long as he ran up to them. "Yeah, shut up, because we've got to go. Come on."

Rory ignored him. "I waited. Two thousand years I waited for you."

"No, still shut up," Amy kissed him again.

The Doctor sighed. "And break! And breathe! Well, somebody didn't get out much for two thousand years."

Young Amelia walked up, tugging on Adelaide's sleeve. "I'm thirsty. Can I get a drink?"

"Oh, it's all mouths today, isn't it?" the Doctor groaned, tossing the fez at Amelia, who just threw it back.

"The light from the Pandorica must have hit the Dalek," Adelaide reasoned, glancing at it just as the Dalek's weapon began to move. "Out!" she switched to holding Amelia's hand, dragging her along. "Everyone out!" They all ran from the room, Rory closing the door and the Doctor sonicing the lock.

The Time Lord turned to Rory. "So, two thousand years. How did you do?"

Rory looked to Adelaide. "Keep out of trouble."

"Oh." The Doctor put the fez back on. "How?"

"Unsuccessfully." Rory grinned. The Doctor grabbed a mop and moved towards the door. "The mop! That's how you looked all those years ago when you gave me the sonic."

The Doctor nodded. "Ah, well, no time to lose, then." He typed a few things into the Vortex Manipulator and vanished, reappearing a few seconds later to actually put the mop through the door. "Oops, sorry." And then he vanished again.

Amelia looked at where he'd been standing in shock. "How can he do that? Is he magic?"

Adelaide chuckled. "He's a miracle, that's for certain."

The Doctor reappeared. "Right, let's go then." He moved to leave before pausing. "Wait! Now I don't have my sonic. I just gave it to Rory two thousand years ago." He vanished again, then reappeared. "Right then." He pulled his sonic from Amy's top pocket. "Off we go!"

Adelaide grabbed his arm, making him stop as she looked at Amelia. "How did you know to come here?"

Amelia pulled a leaflet from her pocket and held it out, showing them the post-it note.

The Doctor nodded. "Ah, my handwriting. Okay." He turned and grabbed a leaflet and post-it note from a nearby table and vanished, appearing again with a drink, which he handed to Amelia. "There you go. Drink up."

Amy shook her head. "What is that? How are you doing that?"

He held up his wrist. "Vortex manipulator. Cheap and nasty time travel. Very bad for you." He grinned. "I'm trying to give it up." He reached out for Adelaide's hand and, together, they moved towards the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Amy called after them.

"The roof," Adelaide called, just as there was the sound of static from the stairs and she froze at the sight of a smoking Doctor, wavering where he stood.

And Adelaide felt sick. She watched as he fell down the steps, felt the Doctor's hand leave hers to go run up to his future self, but she didn't really register it. All she could think about was that the Doctor was in danger, that he was hurt, that something had happened to him.

The humans were saying something but Adelaide couldn't hear them, she didn't want to hear them. She watched as the future Doctor jerked awake, grabbing the Doctor's jacket to whisper in his ear, before falling back again.

The Doctor took a breath before turning back to Adelaide, rushing to her before focusing on anything else. "Are you alright?" he asked her quietly, and it took a few seconds for her to pull her gaze away from the body of the Doctor. "Adelaide?"

She just hugged him.

Quietly, the Doctor whispered to Adelaide what his future self had told him.

"Are you…" Amy said from behind them. "I mean, is he…is he dead?"

The Doctor pulled away from Adelaide, though they still held each other's hand tightly. "What? Dead? Yes, yes. Of course he's dead." Even though Adelaide knew he was lying, she still tightened her grip. "Right, I've got twelve minutes. That's good."

Amy shook her head. "Twelve minutes to live? How is that good?"

"Oh, you can do loads in twelve minutes. Suck a mint, buy a sled, have a fast bath." They moved more up the stairs. "Come on, the roof."

Rory shook his head. "We can't leave you here dead."

"Oh, good. Are you in charge now?" the Doctor scoffed. "So tell me, what are we going to do about Amelia?" he gestured towards the two and they looked around in surprise, finally noticing that Amelia was no longer standing with them.

"Where did she go?"

"Amelia?"

"There is no Amelia," Adelaide managed to say. "History is still collapsing. Amelia never existed."

"But how can I still be here if she's not?" Amy asked.

"You're an anomaly," the Doctor said. "We all are. We're all just hanging on at the eye of the storm. But the eye is closing, and if we don't do something fast, reality will never have happened. Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!" The Time Lords turned and hurried up the stairs, leaving the humans for a few seconds. "Move it!" the Doctor called when there was no sign of them following. "Come on!"

The humans met up with them just as they ran up onto the roof. "What, it's morning already?" Amy asked, looking around at the oddly tinted daylight. "How did that happen?"

"History is shrinking." The Doctor sighed. "Is anybody listening to me? The universe is collapsing. We don't have much time left." He moved over to a satellite dish and soniced it.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for the TARDIS."

"But the TARDIS exploded."

Adelaide nodded. "Then we're looking for an exploding TARDIS."

Amy shook her head. "I don't understand. So, the TARDIS blew up and took the universe with it. But why would it do that? How?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Good question for another day."

"The current question," Adelaide said, moving closer to the edge of the roof, "is that if a total event collapse meant that every star in the universe never happened, then what is that?" she pointed out at what looked, with a quick glance, like the normal sun.

"Like she said, I'm looking for an exploding TARDIS."

"But that's the sun," Rory said.

"Is it? Well, here's the noise that sun is making right now." The Doctor held out the radio dish, letting the humans hear the sound of the TARDIS. "That's my TARDIS burning up. That's what's been keeping the Earth warm."

Rory frowned. "There's something else. There's a voice."

The Doctor soniced the device again as Amy shook her head. "I can't hear anything."

"I'm sorry, my loves," River said, her voice joining the echoes of the TARDIS sound, just repeating over and over again.

"That's River. How can she be up there?"

Rory shrugged. "It must be a recording or something."

The Doctor shook his head. "No, it's not." He sighed. "Of course, the emergency protocols. The TARDIS has sealed off the control room and put her into a time loop to save her. She is right at the heart of the explosion." The Doctor tossed Adelaide the radio dish, messed with his Vortex Manipulator, and vanished. They could still hear him over the dish. "Hello there. I'm here."

River sighed. "And what sort of time do you call this?" A moment later River and the Doctor reappeared on the roof. "Amy!" River cheered, before spotting Rory. "And the plastic Centurion."

"It's okay," the Doctor waved a hand towards Rory, "he's on our side."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

River shrugged. "I dated a Nestene duplicate once. Swappable head. It did keep things fresh." She looked around the group. "Right then, I have questions, but number one is this." She spun to the Doctor. "What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?"

The Doctor smirked. "It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool."

Amy and River exchanged a look before Amy leapt up and grabbed the fez, chucking it into the air for River to shoot with her blaster.

"Oi!"

"Exterminate!" the Dalek cried, levitating up the side of the building.

"Run, move!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing Adelaide's hand and pulling her back. "Move, move. Go!"

Rory pulled Amy back down into the museum. "Come on!"

The Dalek fired at them, Adelaide just managing to raise the dish as a shield to protect them before they were hit. They all climbed back through the roof access panel, but the Doctor paused, listening.

"Doctor, come on," Rory said, him, Amy, and River moving a bit away from the access, though River still had her gun pointed at it.

"Shush," the Doctor whispered. "It's moving away, finding another way in. It needs to restore its power before it can attack again. Now, that means we've got exactly four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity."

"How do you know?" Rory asked, the entire group moving down the stairs.

"Because that's when it's due to kill me." The Doctor touched Adelaide's back as he spoke, at too odd of an angle to take her hand at the moment.

River's eyes widened. "Kill you? What do you mean, kill you?"

The Doctor waved a hand. "Oh, shut up. Never mind."

Adelaide took a deep breath. "How can that Dalek even exist?" Everyone looked at her a bit oddly and it occurred to her how out of practice she really was with teaching. "Daleks were erased from time, but it came back."

"You said the light from the Pandorica…" Rory said.

"It's a restoration field, not a light," Adelaide corrected. "It's what brought Amy back, but how could it bring a Dalek back when Daleks never existed?"

River sighed. "Okay, tell us."

Adelaide was able to chuckle before beginning. "The TARDIS called a total event collapse. It blasted open every atom in every moment in the universe."

The Doctor's eyes widened, catching on. "Except…"

"Except inside the Pandorica."

The Time Lord grinned. "The perfect prison."

"Inside it, perfectly preserved, are a few billion atoms of the Universe as it once was. In theory…" she grinned "you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them."

"And we've got the bumper family pack."

After a second, Rory shook his head. "No, no. Too fast. I'm not getting it."

"The box contains a memory of the Universe," the Doctor explained, "and the light transmits the memory, and that's how we're going to do it!"

"Do what?"

"Relight the fire. Reboot the universe." The Doctor grabbed Adelaide's hand, pulling her further. "Come on!" In the few seconds that they were apart from the others, the Doctor nodded to Adelaide. "Good luck."

She didn't want to leave him, but she knew what had to happen, she knew where she needed to go. Adelaide turned and ran off, needing to get to the future Doctor before anyone else did, even if she hadn't been able to be there the entire time.

 **A/N: Ooo, Adelaide got quite close to revealing her feelings there, didn't she?**

 **Had to wait to post this until the announcement of the new Doctor and let me just say that I am quite excited. Can't wait for Christmas and 2018!**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: Hints will come as time goes on as to why Adelaide is known as the Protector, but I will say that she has another name as well which isn't quite so nice ;)_


	26. Four Travelers

**Four Travelers**

"Where's she going?" River said, running up to the Doctor.

"Scouting."

River sighed. "You're being completely ridiculous, the both of you. The Pandorica partially restored one Dalek. If it can't even reboot a single life form properly, how's it reboot the whole of reality?"

"What if we give it a moment of infinite power?" the Doctor suggested. "What if we can transmit the light from the Pandorica to every particle of space and time simultaneously?"

"Well, that would be lovely, dear, but we can't, because it's completely impossible."

The Doctor grinned. "Ah, no, you see, it's not. It's almost completely impossible. One spark is all we need."

"For what?"

"Big Bang Two!" the Doctor leaned closer. "Now listen…"

And he was cut off when the Dalek hit him in the chest, crumbling to the ground. "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

River knelt by his side as Rory ran up. "Get back. River, get back now!"

"Exterminate!" As the Dalek moved closer, Rory shot it with his hand, draining it of its energy.

"Doctor?" River shook the Doctor, looking up for Adelaide, knowing the Time Lady would need to be there. "Doctor, it's me, River. Can you hear me? What is it? What do you need?"

The Doctor just activated his Vortex Manipulator, vanishing.

|C-S|

When Adelaide found the Doctor, he was already sitting in the Pandorica, weak, but alive. He smiled weakly at her when she arrived and she quickly took over the task.

"Doctor!" Amy called from behind her, but Adelaide didn't turn.

"Why did he tell us he was dead?" Rory asked, shaking his head.

"We were a diversion. As long as the Dalek was chasing us, he could work down here."

"What're they doing?"

"Big Bang Two," Adelaide said quietly, still working. "The TARDIS is exploding at every point in history. If we throw the Pandorica into the explosion…"

"Then let there be light," River continued, eyes wide. "The light from the Pandorica would explode everywhere at once, just like you said."

"That would work?" Amy asked. "That would bring everything back?"

"It would be a restoration field powered by an exploding TARDIS at every moment in history."

River nodded. "Oh, that's brilliant. It might even work." She pointed at what Adelaide was working on. "They wired the Vortex Manipulator to the rest of the box."

"Why?"

"So he can take it with him," Adelaide said. "Fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion."

River frowned. "Only him?"

Adelaide nodded, not looking at the human, but gently touching the Doctor's hair, brushing it from his eyes. "Whoever pilots this will be trapped on the wrong side of the cracks. They will literally never have been born. If the Doctor never existed…my history before the war wouldn't have changed, but by now I'd be trapped as a human on Earth again. Thankfully, my Chameleon Arch was weak. If I had been left alone…eventually, I would have broken through myself. And then…" she shrugged, "I'd be able to remember him back."

"There's no guarantee though…" River said quietly.

"It will work." Adelaide tightened her jaw. "It has to."

She didn't want to leave the Doctor. She couldn't bear the thought, but she knew it was the only thing that could happen. She may have been the one with the idea, but the Doctor would have never let her join him, not when she was one of the only people in the entire universe with the ability to remember him.

Because she would. She had to.

Because she loved him.

Adelaide loved the Doctor and now she was going to lose him in order to save the universe.

|C-S|

"Adelaide…" the Doctor whispered a little later, River having moved over to talk to Amy and Rory. "I'm sorry."

She was still standing beside him, clutching his hand. "I'm going to remember you back. I don't care if that's not how it works, I'm going to do it."

The Doctor smiled. "Of course you will, Adelaide."

"You're not going to leave me." She shook her head. "This was my idea, it's going to work, and you're not going to leave me, you foolish man."

He reached out and touched a bit of her hair that had fallen close to his face, twisting it around his finger. She still smelled like strawberries. "I'm sorry." The Doctor glanced up through the ceiling above them, watching as the explosion grew even bigger. "Amy?"

Adelaide nodded, not stepping away, just turned to look at the group. "Amy?" she called. "Can you come here, please?"

The ginger clearly didn't want to, but she walked up to the Time Lords. "Hi."

The Doctor gave her a smile. "Amy Pond. The girl who waited all night in your garden. Was it worth it?"

"Shut up. Of course it was."

"You asked me why I was taking you with me and I said 'No reason'. I was lying."

Amy shook her head. "It's not important."

"Yeah, it's the most important thing left in the Universe." The Doctor held Adelaide's hand tighter. "It's why I'm doing this. Amy, your house was too big. That big, empty house, and just you."

"And Aunt Sharon."

"Where were your mum and dad? Where was everybody who lived in that big house?"

Amy frowned. "I lost my mum and dad."

"How? What happened to them? Where did they go?"

"I…" Amy swallowed hard, "I don't…"

Adelaide touched her arm gently. "It's alright, it's not your fault."

"I don't even remember…"

"There was a crack in time in the wall of your bedroom, and it's been eating away at your life for a long time now." The Doctor sighed. "Amy Pond, all alone. The girl who didn't make sense. How could I resist?"

Amy shook her head. "How could I just forget?"

"Nothing is ever forgotten. Not really. But you have to try."

"It's speeding up!" River called.

"There's going to be a very big bang. Big Bang Two. Try and remember your family and they'll be there."

"How can I remember them if they never existed?"

"Because you're special. That crack in your wall, all that time, the Universe pouring into your head. You brought Rory back. You can bring them back, too. You just remember and they'll be there."

Amy shook her head again, taking a step back. "You won't."

"You'll have your family back. You won't need your imaginary friend anymore. Ha! Amy Pond crying over me, eh? Guess what?"

"What?" Amy whispered.

Adelaide forced herself to step away from the Doctor, moving Amy slightly back as well. The Doctor grinned, winking at Amy. "Gotcha." Then he looked at Adelaide. "Goodbye."

She shook her head. "Not forever."

And then the Pandorica closed, locking the Doctor inside. Adelaide just closed her eyes, focusing on every single memory she had of the Doctor, from her Time Lady and human self. Everything she couldn't bear to let go.

She remembered the Doctor, and the universe wept.

|C-S|

 _On Gallifrey, so many centuries ago, centuries before war and Chameleon Arches and exploding TARDISes, a Time Lady known as Adelaide sat in her office at the_ _Prydonian Academy grading the work of her students. This wasn't a task she particularly enjoyed, but it was a required sacrifice until she finally got the approval to travel._

 _She frowned when a loud ping sounded, interrupting her. She knew she had set the volume quite high to ensure she did actually hear it when she was focused, but she rarely got any messages. After all, it wasn't like she had friends._

 _Adelaide stood from her desk and walked over to where her messages were received, flicking through a few she'd forgotten to read before finding the most recent._

 _The image that appeared was that of a young man, a little older than her in general appearance. His brown hair looked like it was supposed to be gelled back, but the majority of it had failed to be so. And he was grinning._

 _Adelaide shook her head as she flicked the image to projection. "Hello," the man said cheerfully, "I'm the Doctor. I understand my son's having some trouble in your class and I was wondering if it was possible for us to meet at some point to discuss options. Send a response with your answer."_

 _She sighed when the man neglected to mention his son's name, though it only took a few seconds for the system to connect this man with a boy in her class. She recognized the boy, a troublemaker, no doubt getting it from his father if the man's hair had anything to say about his nature._

 _After fixing her hair, Adelaide sent a message to the Doctor informing him that he should come in two days for a meeting, preferably after classes._

 _It appeared the Doctor forgot that last part because just as Adelaide was in the middle of lecturing a class, she heard a noise from the back of the room. She glanced up to see the Doctor standing there, clearly a graduate of Prydonian given the color of his robes. He had the courtesy to look sheepish when he realized she was in the middle of lecturing and stayed almost silent until she had finished and gestured him down to her._

" _I'm sorry about that," he said as he walked up. "Didn't know you'd be in the middle of teaching."_

 _Adelaide didn't bother forcing a smile. "I do believe I told you certain times to come so that you wouldn't interrupt anything."_

 _He shrugged. "I came early, my apologies." He glanced back behind them, ensuring that there were no students still lingering in the room for a question. Thankfully, this class had not included his son. "May I ask you a question, Adelaide?"_

 _She raised her eyebrows. "That is why you're here."_

" _This isn't about my son." He tilted his head slightly. "You don't seem to like teaching."_

" _Excuse me?"_

" _I mean no offense!" he raised his hands. "It's just, after watching you…you didn't seem overly interested in lecturing. The information, certainly, there were times when you seemed interested, and when the children asked a question, but…teaching, especially in this setting, doesn't seem to be what you prefer. I can't describe how I know, but..."_

 _Adelaide crossed her arms. "Would you prefer the honest response or the one I would officially give?" She was a bit offended, of course, by the Doctor's line of questioning, but it was good to know that it was possible her opinion on lecturing was…a bit too obvious. He was right, after all. Teaching, especially like this - the Gallifreyan way - was not what she wanted to do._

 _He grinned. "Honest."_

 _Good. Adelaide always preferred to be honest._

" _I love the questions, as you say, and I love the information, but I would prefer not to be teaching at all." She shrugged. "I far prefer learning, going out and making my own discoveries instead of regurgitating what others have already done."_

 _His eyes widened. "You want to travel?"_

 _Adelaide nodded. "I'm in the process of waiting for the councils to make a decision on the matter."_

" _And you're not married…"_

 _She smiled. "I petitioned the councils at the age when we normally wed and they allowed me not to do so until a final decision has been reached on if I can travel or not."_

 _The Doctor nodded. "Interesting."_

 _Adelaide sighed. "Now, I do believe you were here, originally, to discuss your son."_

 _The Doctor looked like he had honestly forgotten that fact._

 _They discussed his son as they should - another aspect she honestly hated about the job, which she had no doubt that the Doctor had noticed - and, when it was finally over, the Doctor and Adelaide stood. "Thank you, Adelaide."_

 _She nodded. "You're very welcome, Doctor."_

 _He moved backwards. "I hope you'll be able to travel."_

 _Adelaide smiled. "Thank you, Doctor."_

|C-S|

The next moment Adelaide opened her eyes, she was standing at the back of a large hall, looking at the TARDIS as it stood in the middle of the room and Amy, in a wedding dress, banging on the door. Neither she nor Rory noticed Adelaide standing there.

"Okay, Doctor," Amy was saying, knocking. "Did I surprise you this time?"

The doors to the TARDIS opened and the Doctor swung out dressed in a suit, top hat, and scarf. "Er, yeah. Completely astonished. Never expected that. How lucky I happened to be wearing this old thing." He grinned, stepping out of the TARDIS. "Hello, everyone! I'm Amy's imaginary friend. But I came anyway." As he rounded the side of the TARDIS, he spotted Adelaide, grinning widely. "Adelaide," he said, sounding incredibly relieved, and she didn't wait a second before running towards him and hugging him tightly.

She hadn't been a human. Or at least, not a full one. She'd been a Time Lady trapped in a human mind, living her life as Caroline while Adelaide had screamed inside. She hadn't had any control, just been an observer as Caroline came here, the human not even knowing why. It was only when the TARDIS had appeared that Adelaide had returned as though she'd never been gone.

Of course something had gone wrong. They'd been gambling with a faulty Chameleon Arch in a faulty rebooted universe. She should have taken those variables into account, not that she had any idea what she could have done about it.

She hadn't been able to remember the Doctor back but, thankfully, Amy had done it for her.

"You're back," she whispered.

"Just like you said."

It was Adelaide who stepped back, looking at Amy and Rory who were both still a bit dumbfounded at the sight of the Time Lords. "So sorry I'm not dressed for the wedding," she said.

The Doctor grinned. "Why don't we go remedy that?" he pulled her back to the TARDIS, pausing in the doorway. "Also going to move my box, since you're going to need the space. I only came for the dancing."

|C-S|

Adelaide stood on the edge of Amy and Rory's reception watching as the guests danced. She was tempted to join, but she was a bit too distracted by attempting to figure out exactly what her feelings about the Doctor were.

And she was having a bit too much fun watching the Doctor dancing with the younger children.

When she'd thought she'd lose him, she'd thought she'd loved him. When she'd been Caroline, she'd thought she'd loved him. Even now, she thought she loved him, but she didn't know. How was one supposed to? As far as Adelaide was aware, there was no definition of love. No checklist to follow. You just knew.

Did she 'just know'?

Eventually he did pull her out onto the dance floor with him in order to attempt to teach her the dance. As younger children began to drift away to hang off their parents because of the late hour, the Doctor and Adelaide just began to dance together. They ended up, vaguely, copying a dance from Gallifrey that neither of them seemed to completely remember and didn't quite notice when the songs changed to a slower tune.

They just moved closer, swaying together, and Adelaide was almost certain about her feelings.

She was fairly certain this was what 'just knowing' felt like.

"Doctor…I need to tell you something."

His eyes widened. "What is it?"

"I…" she had to say something, she knew she did. She'd been living for so long now without saying a thing. "I think I might…"

"May I kiss you, Adelaide?" the Doctor asked, and Adelaide grinned.

"Of course you may." Adelaide grabbed the Doctor's jacket's lapels and pulled him down to her height, kissing him soundly.

And in the newly reformed universe, all of the reborn stars burned just a bit brighter.

|C-S|

When the time came for the Time Lords to take their leave, they snuck out of the party towards where they'd left the TARDIS. The Doctor was just preparing to unlock the door when there was a voice behind them within the trees. "Did you dance?" River said, emerging from the trees. "Well, you always dance at weddings, don't you?"

"You tell us," the Doctor said.

River chuckled. "Spoilers."

Adelaide held out River's journal, which she'd apparently given Amy to help spark her memory, and her Vortex Manipulator. "Everything's back, but we didn't look. I wouldn't let him."

River smiled at her, but even Adelaide noticed River's slightly nervous expression. "Thank you."

"Are you married, River?" the Doctor asked her.

"Are you asking?"

"Yes."

River looked at Adelaide. "Spoilers."

Adelaide shook her head. "River, who are you?"

"You're going to find out very soon now." She sighed. "And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes." River vanished.

The Doctor turned back to look at Adelaide. "We met before," Adelaide said. "At least once. On Gallifrey."

"Really?"

"When I was a professor. You came about your son and we ended up discussing my plans for traveling."

His eyes widened. "How do you…"

"I was trying to remember you so hard that I went all the way back to Gallifrey." She smiled. "Apparently we never had a rememberable encounter as students, if we ever met at all."

"I think I remember…" the Doctor nodded. "I remember a Time Lady who wanted to travel. I didn't remember her name, but…"

Adelaide nudged the Doctor's shoulder. "I'm offended, Doctor."

He grinned. "I'm never going to forget you again." The Doctor leaned down and kissed her again, making Adelaide laugh, before turning and finishing opening the TARDIS door to pull her inside.

They didn't get far before they heard Amy opening the door. "Oi! Where are you off to?"

"Amy!" Rory called, closing the door.

"Shut up. It's my wedding."

"Our wedding."

"Sorry, you two," the Doctor called from the console. "Shouldn't have slipped away. Bit busy, you know?"

Rory raised his eyebrows. "You just saved the whole of space and time; take the evening off. Maybe a bit of tomorrow."

"Space and time isn't safe yet," Adelaide corrected. "Something brought the TARDIS to that date and blew it up. Why? And why now?" The phone on the console rang and Adelaide moved to answer it.

"The Silence, whatever it is, is still out there," the Doctor finished.

"Hello?" She leaned back as she listened. "Yes, hello. Sorry, this is quite a bad line." She paused, her eyes narrowing. "Really? But she was sealed into the seventh Obelisk." She nodded. "Yes, I know it's important, I'm sorry. An Egyptian goddess is loose on the Orient Express, in space."

The Doctor turned to the humans. "Sorry, something's come up. This will have to be goodbye."

Amy nodded. "Yeah, I think it's goodbye." She glanced at Rory. "Do you think it's goodbye?"

Rory grinned. "Definitely goodbye."

Amy turned and walked to the door, throwing it open and leaning out to wave. "Goodbye! Goodbye!" She turned back around with a smile.

The Doctor turned back to the phone. "Don't worry about a thing, your Majesty. We're on our way."

Together, the Time Lords flicked the levers, and sent the group off into the universe.

 **A/N: The Time Lords have kissed! Finally!**

 **Just the Christmas special left now, and then a brand new story and season to explore ;)**


	27. Past

**Past**

As much as Adelaide had attempted to tell the Doctor that entering a home through the chimney was not a good idea, he hadn't listened. Granted, she'd only been able to say something in the few seconds between them landing the TARDIS and the Doctor going bounding outside. So it wasn't that surprising that he'd been able to ignore her.

Adelaide had just turned and brought the TARDIS down into a random room of the home, which had actually been what they were aiming for. She still wasn't that happy about the Doctor insisting they landed inside the home, having gotten into trouble multiple times after accidentally doing just that. But then the Doctor had gotten control of the TARDIS, which was why they'd ended up in the wrong place.

They were currently in the process of attempting to get the man who controlled the cloud belt to help a ship trapped inside, which happened to contain Amy and Rory. They'd done some quick research on the man inside, which was why Adelaide had tried to get the Doctor to land them outside the home and walk inside. He didn't seem to be a man who would take kindly to people barging into his home, especially when they were attempting to ask him for help.

That hadn't stopped the Doctor from trying and now Adelaide was walking into the room just as the Doctor stood, covered in soot, having just fallen out of the fireplace. "Ah, yes. Blimey. Sorry. Christmas Eve on a rooftop. Saw a chimney, my whole brain just went, what the hell." He looked up and spotted Adelaide. "You made it!"

Adelaide just turned to the small group, a wealthy man standing before a family. "Sorry for the intrusion. And the mess."

The Doctor spun. "Don't worry, fat fellow will be doing the rounds later," he said to the children. "I'm just scoping out the general chimney-ness." He hit the side of it. "Yes, nice size, good traction. Big tick."

The father of the family frowned. "Fat fellow?"

"Father Christmas," the Doctor explained, "Santa Claus or, as I've always known him, Jeff."

The son shook his head. "There's no such person as Father Christmas."

"Oh yeah?" the Doctor pulled out a picture of the group of four of them. "Us and Father Christmas, Frank Sinatra's hunting lodge, 1952. See him at the back with the blonde? Albert Einstein. The four of us together, brrm, watch out." He put it away. "Okay? Keep the faith. Stay off the naughty list."

"You're not the one who should be giving that advice," Adelaide called, making the Doctor stick his tongue out at her.

He turned to look around the room, spotting a large device in a small alcove. "Ooo. Now, what's this then? I love this. A big flashy lighty thing." He walked over to the device, Adelaide moving over as well. "That's what brought us here. Big flashy lighty things have got me written all over them. Not actually, but give me time, a crayon, and keep Adelaide away for a bit."

Adelaide turned to the wealthy man. "This controls the clouds of ice, correct?"

The Doctor chuckled. "Ice clouds. Love that." He hurried forward again, moving towards what looked like a large ice covered coffin. "Who's she?"

"Nobody important."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Nobody important? Blimey, that's amazing. Do you know, in nine hundred years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important before." He glanced at the old man before turning back to Adelaide, who had stayed by the cloud controlling machine. "Now, this console is the key to saving that ship, or I'll eat my hat…if I had a hat. I'll eat someone else's hat." He looked at Adelaide. "Not someone who's using their hat, I don't want to shock a nun, or something…"

"Rambling," Adelaide told him, cutting him off smoothly. "This isn't working." She'd been attempting to get the machine to work but very quickly realized nothing she did was actually doing anything.

The old man nodded. "The controls are isomorphic. One to one. They respond only to me."

The Doctor scoffed. "Oh, you fibber. Isomorphic. There's no such thing." The old man walked over and tapped a switch, successfully turning the device off and on again. The Doctor reached out and tried the same switch only for nothing to happen. He scanned it with his sonic before looking up again. "These controls are isomorphic."

"The skies of this entire world are mine. My family tamed them, and now I own them."

"Tamed the sky?" the Doctor frowned. "What does that mean?"

"It means I'm Kazran Sardick. How can you possibly not know who I am?"

Adelaide shrugged. "Both of us are easily bored?" The Doctor snickered. "We need your help."

"Make an appointment."

"There are 4,003 people trapped in your cloud belt." The Time Lords moved forwards to stand before Kazran. "Without your help, they're all going to die."

Kazran nodded. "Yes."

"You don't have to let that happen."

He nodded again. "I know, but I'm going to. Bye, bye, bored now. Chuck!" servants rushed forwards, ushering the family out while two others tried to take the Time Lords out, but they just pulled themselves out of the grip and moved back over to where Kazran was moving to sit by the fire. "Ooo, look at you, looking all tough now."

"There are 4,003 people we won't allow to die tonight. Do you know where that puts you?"

"Where?"

"4,004."

Kazran smirked. "Was that a sort of threat-y thing?"

The Time Lords exchanged a look. "Whatever happens tonight, remember you brought it on yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, right, get them out of here!" the servants came forwards again. "And next time try to find me some funny poor people."

The servants began to escort the family out again, but the young boy pushed himself free, grabbing a piece of coal and throwing it at Kazran, hitting him sharply on the head.

Normally, the Time Lords didn't condone violence, but this was one instance where they both smirked.

Until Kazran stood and rushed over to the boy, lifting his hand in preparation to strike the boy. "No!" the Doctor shouted, struggling, "stop, don't!"

"Don't you dare," the father called. "You leave him!"

Kazran hovered there for a moment, hand shaking, before he lowered it and stepped back. "Get them out of here. Get that foul-smelling family out of here! Out!" the family left quickly, and Kazran moved back to his chair, only to see the Doctor and Adelaide still standing there. "What? What do you want?"

"A simple life. But you didn't hit the boy."

"Well, I will next time."

The Doctor shook his head. "You see, you won't. Now, why?" He looked around the room. "What am I missing?"

"Get out. Get out of this house!"

"The chairs," Adelaide told the Doctor, making his eyes widen.

"The chairs?"

Adelaide pointed at the large painting behind them. "There's a portrait behind us. Very similar to you, but far too old, meaning it's your father. And since all of the chairs are angled away from it…he's been dead for years, and you're still not comfortable in his sight." She pointed towards the Christmas tree in the painting. "There's also not a single Christmas tree in this home on Christmas Eve. Which means…" she pointed at the Doctor, who thankfully had followed her thought process.

"You're scared of him," the Doctor finished, "and you're scared of being like him, and good for you, you're not like him, not really. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you didn't hit the boy."

Adelaide smiled. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Sardick."

"I despise Christmas."

The Doctor shrugged. "You shouldn't. It's very you."

Kazran frowned. "It's what? What do you mean?"

"Halfway out of the dark."

He looked away as the servants returned, the Time Lords escorted out of the home. They had only gone a few steps in the foggy street before the phone Adelaide still had tucked away in her pocket rang. Almost no one still had the number.

"Have you got a plan yet?" Amy asked.

"Yes, we do," the Doctor replied before Adelaide could.

"Are you lying?"

"Yes, I am."

Amy sighed. "Don't treat me like an idiot."

"Was he lying?" Rory called from the background.

"No, no…"

The Time Lords glanced at each other before returning to the companion. "We've tracked the machine that unlocks the cloud belt," Adelaide said. "It would be able to give you a flight corridor and allow you to land easily."

"Oh, hey, hey, that's great news."

"But we can't control the machine," the Doctor said.

"Less great."

"We've met the man who can."

"Ah, well, there you go."

"And he hates us. Even Adelaide!"

Amy sighed. "Were you being extra charming and clever and not really listening to what Adelaide always tells you, thus keeping her distracted attempting to keep control of you and not letting her keep the man from hating you both?"

Adelaide just started laughing, which had the Doctor pouting in annoyance. "Thank you, Amy," she said, reaching for the Doctor's hand.

"Is he making his pouty face?"

"Oi!"

"Sir? Ma'am?" the father they'd seen called, stepping up to the Time Lords.

"Hang on," the Doctor hid the phone behind his back.

"I've never seen anybody stand up to Mr. Sardick like that." The man shook their hands. "Bless you, sir, ma'am, and merry Christmas."

The Doctor smiled. "Merry Christmas. Lovely. Sorry," he held up the phone again, "bit busy."

"You'd better get inside. The fog's thick tonight, and there's a fish warning."

Adelaide's eyes widened. "Fish?"

The man looked a bit surprised. "Yeah. You know what they're like when they get a bit hungry."

She nodded. "Yes, we know about fish. But a fish warning?"

"It's all Mr. Sardick's fault, I reckon." He pointed up at the spire at the top of the building they'd just exited. "He always lets a few fish through the cloud layer when he's in a bad mood." The man pulled down his goggles and shook their hands again. "Thank you. Bless you again." He turned and walked off.

"Fish?" Adelaide repeated, looking up at the streetlight.

"Doctor, Adelaide, the Captain says we've got less than an hour," Amy called, but the Time Lords weren't really listening to her. "What should we be doing?"

"Fish," the Doctor agreed, both of them moving closer to the small group of fish that swam around the light.

"Sorry what?"

"Fish that can swim in the fog." The Doctor grinned. "I love new planets."

"It's beautiful," Adelaide reached out to let the fish nibble at her fingers.

"Doctor, Adelaide, please don't get distracted." Amy's efforts were pretty futile since the Time Lords weren't really listening to her.

"Now, why would people be frightened of you tiny little fellows?" the Doctor reached out as well. "Look at you, sweet little fish-wishies."

Adelaide frowned. "If this is the size of the fish in the fog, what's in the cloud cover?"

The Doctor glanced up at the clouds. "Ooo, careful up there."

Amy sighed. "Oh great, thanks, Doctor, because there was a real danger we were all going to nod off. We've got less than an hour!"

The clock turned to eleven and the Time Lords glanced on it. "We know." The speakers on the light post began to play a Christmas carol.

"How are you getting us off here?"

"Oh, just give us a minute." The Time Lords turned to each other. "Can't use the TARDIS, because it can't lock on. So, that ship needs to land."

"But it can't land unless a very rude man suddenly decides to do something nice."

"I can't hear you!" Amy called, interrupting them. "What is that? Is that singing?"

"A Christmas carol."

"A what?"

"A Christmas carol," he repeated, a bit louder.

"A what?"

"A Christmas Carol!" he shouted, but then he paused, eyes widening. When he looked towards Adelaide, she still looked vaguely confused.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor just grinned. "Kazran Sardick."

"Doctor!"

"Merry Christmas, Kazran Sardick."

|C-S|

As they returned to the TARDIS, the Doctor explained the plan he'd suddenly had. It took quite a bit of convincing to get Adelaide to actually agree to it, and even then she wasn't that happy about it. It made sense, in some ways, because there was a chance they'd be able to get Kazran to change how he sees the world. But they would be changing his memories; they'd be changing a real person's memories.

It might work, but that didn't mean Adelaide was happy out it.

But this was still technically a new body, so opinions were rather unsettled.

Together, they found quite an old recording of a young Kazran. It was in bad shape, but somehow they were able to get the sound to work and sharpen the image enough that you could see what was happening.

They watched in silence behind Kazran as he woke to find the video playing before him. The young Kazran wanted to see the fish, but then his father entered the room and began to shout at him.

When his father struck him, the Doctor and Adelaide gripped their hands tighter. Slowly, they moved to stand on either side of Kazran, the Doctor touching the man's shoulder. "It's okay," Kazran jumped, turning to look at them. "It's okay."

"What have you done?" Kazran glared at them, pointing back at the projection. "What is this?"

"Found it on an old drive. Sorry about the picture quality. Had to recover the data using quantum enfolding and a paperclip." The Doctor took a seat, pulling out a newspaper, while Adelaide watched Kazran rush to call his servants.

"Don't bother," she said, as he rang the bell. "They all quit." She shrugged. "Apparently they all won the lottery at exactly the same time, which is quite amazing if you think about it."

"There isn't a lottery."

The Doctor looked up over the top of the newspaper. "Yes, as she said, amazing."

Kazran glanced back at the projection, watching his young self cry, before looking back at the Time Lords. "Who are you?"

"Tonight, we're the Ghosts of Christmas Past."

On the projection, Kazran's father left the room. "Did you ever see a fish, when you were a child?" Adelaide called.

"What does that matter to you?" he snapped.

"It mattered to you," she loosely gestured towards the screen, making Kazran turn back to look at it.

"I cried all night, and I learned life's most invaluable lesson."

The Doctor smiled. "Which is?"

Kazran just sneered. "Nobody comes. Get out! Get out of my house!"

The Time Lords backed up, hands in the air. "Okay, okay, but we'll be back. Way back. Way, way back." They stepped into the TARDIS and brought themselves to the moment Kazran was watching the projection of.

For a moment, they stared at the young Kazran through his window until the boy noticed them. "See?" the Doctor said, knowing the future Kazran would be seeing this. "Back."

Young Kazran frowned as Adelaide opened the window. "Who are you?"

"Hi! I'm the Doctor and this is Adelaide. We're your new babysitters!" he leapt into the room, stepping out of the way so Adelaide could do the same.

"Where's Mrs. Mantovani?"

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, you'll never guess. Clever old Mrs. Manters, she only went and won the lottery."

Kazran shook his head, sniffling. "There isn't any lottery."

"We know." The Doctor leapt from Kazran's bed, which was where he had bounded after Adelaide gave him a look. "What a woman."

"If you're my babysitters, why are you climbing in the window?"

"Because if we were climbing out of the window, we'd be going in the wrong direction. Pay attention, especially when she speaks, she's very clever," he pointed back at Adelaide.

"But Mrs. Mantovani's always my babysitter."

Adelaide shrugged. "Times change." She glanced at the recording on his desk. "You see? Christmas Past."

"Who are you talking to?"

"You," the Doctor said.

"Now, your past is going to change," Adelaide explained. "That means your memories are going to as well. It's going to be scary, but you'll grasp it, in time."

"I don't understand."

"I'll bet you don't." The Doctor glanced at the recorder. "I wish I could see your face." He coughed when he glanced at Adelaide and saw her staring at him expectantly. "Right then, your bedroom. Great. Let's see." He fell back on the bed. "You're twelve-years-old, so we'll stay away from under the bed."

"Cupboard?" Adelaide suggested, pointing at it.

"Cupboard! Big cupboard!" He bounced up, throwing open the doors. "I love a cupboard. Do you know, there's a thing called a face spider. It's just like a tiny baby's head with spider legs, and it's specifically evolved to scuttle up the backs of bedroom cupboards…" he winced at Kazran's expression, not even needing to look at Adelaide to know she would not be happy with him. "Yeah, I probably shouldn't have mentioned that." He moved over to Kazran. "So, what are we going to do? Eat crisps and talk about girls?" Adelaide sat on the bed. "I've never actually done that, but I bet it's easy. Girls? Yeah?"

Kazran just stared at him in surprise. "Are you really a babysitter?"

"I think you'll find I'm universally recognized as a mature and responsible adult." He handed Kazran the psychic paper.

"It's just a lot of wavy lines."

Adelaide, smiling, stood and plucked it from Kazran's hand. "It's shorted out; there's finally been a lie too big for it." The Doctor stuck his tongue out at her. "We're not babysitters, but it's Christmas Eve. You don't want a real one."

The Doctor flung his arm around Adelaide's shoulders. "You want us."

"Why? What's so special about you?"

"Have you ever seen Mary Poppins?"

"No."

The Doctor nodded. "Good. Because that comparison would've been rubbish and Adelaide probably would have been upset with me." He spun Adelaide to look out the window, Kazran moving closer. "Fish in the fog. Fish in the clouds. How do people ever get bored? How did boredom even get invented?"

"My dad's invented a machine to control the cloud belt," Kazran said. "Tame the sky, he says. The fish'll be able to come down, but only when we let them. We can charge whatever we like."

"Yes, we've seen your dad's machine," Adelaide said.

"What? You can't have."

"Tame the sky," the Doctor repeated. "Human beings. You always manage to find the boring alternative, don't you?"

Adelaide glanced back at the open window. "Do you want to see one? A fish?" Finally, Kazran smiled. "We can do that. We can see a fish."

"Aren't you going to tell me it's dangerous?"

"Dangerous?" the Doctor laughed, stepping forward to kneel closer to Kazran's height. "Come on, we're boys. And you know what boys say in the face of danger?"

"What?"

"Mummy." The Doctor said it so seriously that Kazran clearly didn't know if he was supposed to laugh or not until the Doctor's face broke into a large grin.

|C-S|

Adelaide was honestly surprised when they all managed to fit inside the cupboard but, granted, it was quite a large cupboard. The Doctor was sitting in the middle, the recorder in front of them, with a string tied to his finger. The string itself was connected to where they had dangled his sonic as a lure for a fish.

He'd tried to convince Adelaide to donate her sonic to the cause, but she made it quite clear, by hitting him over the head with her sonic, that she was not going to give it up.

"Are there any face spiders in here?" Kazran asked quietly, looking around.

"Nah, not at this time of night," the Doctor said before Adelaide could interrupt. "They'll all be sleeping in your mattress."

Adelaide coughed. "So, what interests you about the fish?"

Kazran shrugged. "They're scary."

Adelaide smiled. It was quite dark in this cupboard at the moment, but thankfully the Doctor was holding onto her hand quite tightly, so she was able to seem at least somewhat comfortable for Kazran's sake. "Good answer."

"What kind of tie is that?" he asked the Doctor.

"A cool one."

"Why is it cool?"

"Why are you really interested in fish?"

Kazran sighed, looking away. "My school. During the last fog belt, the nets broke and there was an attack. Loads of them. A whole shoal. No one was hurt, but it was the most fish ever seen below the mountains."

"Were you scared?"

"I wasn't there. I was out sick."

The Doctor nodded. "Ooo, lucky you." He paused, studying Kazran's upset face. "Not lucky."

"It's all anyone ever talks about now. The day the fish came. Everyone's got a story."

"But you don't. I see."

Kazran looked towards the recorder. "Why are you recording this?"

Adelaide leaned forwards slightly. "Do you pay attention at school Kazran?"

"Sorry, what?"

"Because you're not paying attention now." She nodded towards the string around the Doctor's finger, which was being tugged.

The Doctor raised a finger to his lip as the Time Lords, carefully, stood. "Shush."

"Are you sure?"

They leaned against the door. "Trust us."

"Okay…"

"Oi." The Doctor paused the string to Adelaide. "Eyes on the tie. Look at me. I wear it and I don't care." He smiled. "Trust me?"

Kazran smiled. "Yes."

"And that's why it's cool," Adelaide said, making the Doctor look at her.

"You like it?" They'd never actually discussed the bow-tie he was wearing, though she had always given him exasperated looks every time he claimed it was cool.

Adelaide laughed. "I said it was cool, not that I liked it." Before he could say something else, she slid out of the cupboard, the Doctor having to hurry after her so that he wouldn't get trapped. They wanted to ensure it would be safe for Kazran before they let the boy himself come out.

There was a small fish floating in the fog, nibbling on the sonic. "Hello, fishy," the Doctor breathed, the pair of them circling opposite side of the room. "Let's see…interesting."

"Crystalline fog?" Adelaide offered, letting the fog drift between her fingers. "Carrying a small electrical charge."

"Is that how you fly, little fishy?" the Doctor moved closer.

"What is it?" Kazran called from the cupboard. "What kind? Can I see?"

"Just stay there a moment."

"Is it big?"

"Nah, just a little one." The Doctor moved so that he stood in front of the fish. "So, little fellow, what do you eat?"

Suddenly, a large shark soared through the window and ate the fish and screwdriver.

"How little?" Kazran asked, clearly not knowing what had just happened.

"Er…" the Doctor looked towards Adelaide, who was still standing on the side of the room, behind the shark. It didn't seem to have seen her, focusing on him at the moment.

"Can I come out?"

"No, no. Maybe just wait there for a moment."

"What color is it?"

"Big color," the Doctor breathed. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. And Adelaide didn't like it either, watching the Doctor stare down a shark that could swim in fog. Quickly, with a small nod to Adelaide, he ducked back inside the cupboard while she turned and leapt out the window, ducking down and keeping out of the shark's sight.

Hopefully, it would stay fixated on the Doctor and give her enough time to figure out a way to stun it before it actually ate him and Kazran, thus completely ruining the timelines.

Adelaide heard the shark hit itself against the door as she pulled out her sonic. With a second bang and the subsequent crash, she looked through the window to see that the shark had, somehow, managed to wedge itself into the door itself. She could hear the Doctor attempting to form some foolish plan, but she beat him to it, sending a pulse to the shark's brain and stunning it.

"You can come out now," she called once the shark went limp, climbing back into the room. Almost immediately the Doctor ran to her and hugged her tightly, even if she'd never been in any danger. "And please be careful as you attempt to pull your sonic out of a shark's mouth."

The Doctor just grinned.

|C-S|

She was actually surprised when he managed to do just that, though he only got half of it out, and then they managed to get the shark out the window. Now, the Doctor just stared at his half eaten sonic with annoyance while Kazran knelt beside the shark.

"What's the big fishy done to you?" he asked his sonic. "Swallowed half of you, that's what. Half a screwdriver, what use is that? Bad, big fishy."

"I think she's dying," Kazran called. Adelaide was already next to him, scanning the shark, but the Doctor walked over as well.

"Half my screwdriver's still inside," the Doctor commented, "but yeah, I think so."

"They must not be able to survive long outside the cloud belt," Adelaide said, studying her readings. "Only long enough for a quick raiding trip on a foggy night."

"Can't we get it back up there?" Kazran asked, crying. "We were just going to stun it. I didn't want to kill it."

"She was trying to eat you."

"She was hungry."

The Doctor rubbed Adelaide's back. "I'm sorry, Kazran, we can't save her."

"We would need a fully functioning life-support to get her to survive the trip back up."

Kazran's eyes widened. "You mean like an icebox? Okay!" he leapt to his feet and ran from his bedroom, the Time Lords following him, though the Doctor did get distracted by a large Christmas tree.

"Ooo, a tree!"

"We can look at the tree later," Adelaide said calmly, pulling on the Doctor's jacket until he followed her and Kazran, who'd grabbed a lamp to use as a light source.

He brought them downstairs to a large sealed door. Beyond it was a room filled with ice-boxes and, from what they could see, all of them contained people.

"What is this?"

"The surplus population," Kazran said. "That's what my dad calls it…" he grabbed the wheel on the door, trying to turn it. "Oh, it's not turning…turn!"

Adelaide soniced the keypad, but nothing happened. "Deadlocked."

"What's the number?"

Kazran shook his head. "I don't know."

"This place is full of alarms," Adelaide added. "It's not just the door. We need the number."

"I'm not allowed to know until I'm older!"

Adelaide looked towards the Doctor. "One moment!" he shouted, turning and running back the stairs towards the TARDIS. Adelaide waited with Kazran for the minute it took before the Doctor rushed down the stairs again. "7-2-5-8."

She typed it in quickly and then helped the Doctor open the door. It swung open and some of the fog drifted out around their feet, a few small fish among it.

"Ah, there's fish down here too!"

"Yeah, but only tiny ones." Kazran led them down the rows of people. "The house is built on a fog lake, that's how Dad freezes the people. They're all full, but we could borrow one." He stopped in front of one. "Yeah, this one."

The Time Lords walked up to see it was the woman they'd seen in the older Kazran's home. "Hello again," the Doctor breathed.

Kazran frowned. "You know her?"

Adelaide glanced down at him. "Why her? Is she important to you?"

He just shrugged. "She won't mind. She loves the fish." He typed something into the keypad and a projection began to play, covering the woman's face.

"My name is Abigail Pettigrew," she explained, "and I'm very grateful for Mr. Sardick's kindness. My father…"

"She starts to talk about the fish in a minute…" Kazran said quietly, the Time Lords glancing at the other boxes.

"…but I would not allow it. I could not have chosen this path were it not for the compassion and generosity of the great philanthropist and patron of the poor, Mr. Elliot Sardick. But I'm also surrounded by the fish, the beautiful, iridescent, magical fish."

"Why are these people here?"

"My dad lends money," Kazran explained. "He always takes a family member as…he calls it security."

The Doctor nodded. "Hard man to love, your dad. But I suppose you know that."

"I'm not alone," the projection of Abigail said as it neared the end, "and I am at peace."

There was a beeping sound, almost like a radar. "What's wrong?" Kazran asked them as the Time Lords turned to look at the door.

"Just my half of the screwdriver trying to repair itself," the Doctor said, pulling out his broken sonic. "It's signaling the other half."

Kazran's eyes widened. "The other half's inside the shark."

"Yeah. Sounds like she's woken up."

"And it's homing on the screwdriver," Adelaide said, pulling the Doctor backward as the shark dived down at him, nearly hitting him. They managed to keep running, Kazran running off in the opposite direction. The Time Lords tried to run after him until they heard someone singing.

Slowly, they walked towards it to see Kazran standing and watching Abigail singing and petting the shark, which was completely calm.

"It's not really the singing, of course," the Doctor mumbled.

Kazran nodded. "Yes, it is."

"Nah."

"The fish love the singing. It's true."

"Nah, the notes resonate in the ice crystals, causing a delta wave pattern in the fog…" the Doctor paused and slapped his neck. "Ow. A fish bit me."

Adelaide smiled, kissing the Doctor's cheek. "You deserved it." He turned and kissed her quickly before she could pull away, making her laugh.

"That's how the machine controls the cloud belt," he continued. "The clouds are ice crystals. If you vibrate the crystals at exactly the right frequency, you could align them into…ow! Why do they keep biting me?"

"Look, the fish like the singing, okay?" Kazran said, glaring at him. "Now shut up."

The Doctor nodded. "Okay."

 **A/N: Aw, it's Christmas! Always a magical time for our two Time Lords, isn't it? ;) Only one more chapter left, and then the next story.**

 **Thought I'd give you the title of that one now, since it will be starting Wednesday: The Right Way.**

 **Make of that what you will.**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: More kissing now. Always saw 11 as a very physically affectionate Doctor compared to some of the others._

 _Gammily: And who knows, maybe they've met before other times and just haven't remembered ;)_


	28. Future

**Future**

They actually managed to get the shark into the ice-box and then the Time Lords brought Abigail and Kazran into the TARDIS, leaving them to look around in wonder while the pair of them worked on piloting.

"It's bigger on the inside," Kazran breathed.

"Yeah, it's the color," the Doctor said. "Really knocks the walls back." He jumped up and over towards where Adelaide was waiting. "Shark in a box, to go." They piloted the TARDIS towards the cloud belt.

"This is amazing," Abigail laughed.

"Nah, this is transport," the Doctor waved a hand. "We keep amazing…" he ran towards the doors, "out here." They had landed among the fish, and Adelaide walked over and stood beside the Doctor, letting him wrap an arm around her for a moment. "Come on, then. Let's get this shark out." The Time Lords walked back towards the shark box as Kazran and Abigail looked out the door.

A few seconds later, the shark shot between the pair and out into the sky, making Kazran cheer. "Hey, look at her go!"

The Doctor closed the ice-box door and frowned, letting his finger run across the number on the front. "Abigail, this number. What does it mean?"

Abigail, after ensuring Kazran was still standing in the door, walked over to them. "It pertains to me, sir, not the fish."

Adelaide nodded. "Yes, but how?"

"You are a doctor, you say?" the Doctor nodded. "Are you one of mine?"

"Do you need a doctor?"

Abigail looked down, but before she was able to say anything there was a ding from the console. The Doctor stood up and walked back to the console. "Ah! Sorry, time's up, kids."

Kazran walked back towards them, frowning. "Why?"

"It's nearly Christmas day!"

They brought the pair back to the ice-box storage room and Abigail stepped back into hers, looking at them for a moment before it closed. "If you should ever wish to visit again…"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, you know, if we're ever in the neighborhood…"

"They come every Christmas Eve," Kazran interrupted.

"What?"

"Yeah, he does. Every time. They promise."

The Doctor just frowned, which did honestly make Adelaide laugh. "No, we don't…"

But then the door closed.

|C-S|

After Kazran was so excited for the concept of them returning the next year, though the Time Lords were fairly certain he was more excited about being around Abigail again, it wasn't that hard to convince them to bring their TARDIS to that next year.

They did have a time machine, after all. And since he'd managed to convince Adelaide to agree to meddle with Kazran's timeline, he didn't want to give her time to reconsider.

When they came the next year, Kazran was already waiting for them, wearing a Father Christmas hat and holding two more for them. The Time Lords had taken a moment to determine what their plan for that year was before they arrived, so all they had to do was wake Abigail.

"Merry Christmas!" the three of them cheered once Abigail woke.

She grinned. "Doctor! Adelaide! What are we going to do?"

Kazran grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the TARDIS. "The Doctor and Adelaide have got a great plan. Wait till you hear."

They brought the TARDIS to the street, where the Time Lords hunted for a small sleigh they'd be able to use. Then, they actually thought to explain their plan to Abigail.

Abigail just shook her head. "You are out of your mind! This will never work."

"Oh, don't think shark," the Doctor said. "Think dolphin!"

"A shark isn't a dolphin."

The Doctor shrugged. "It's nearly a dolphin."

"No, it isn't."

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "It really isn't, Doctor."

"That's where you're wrong, because…" he struggled for an answer, and when Adelaide and Abigail laughed at him he pouted. "Shut up." Then it was Adelaide's turn to pout and the Doctor leaned over and kissed her quickly, making her smile.

"It could be anywhere," Kazran said, walking up to them. "Will it really come?"

"No chance. Completely impossible."

Adelaide laughed as the sonic began to beep. "Except at Christmas."

Thanks to Abigail, they were able to hook the shark to the harness without any of them getting injured and let it bring them up into the sky. The Doctor and Adelaide were the ones holding the reins, though they had fought over who would control it, while Kazran and Abigail sat in the back.

"How are we going to get back?" Kazran called, gripping the side of the sled.

"I don't know!"

"Do you have a plan?"

"Working on it!"

|C-S|

Back in the ice-box room, Abigail smiled from her ice-box. "Best Christmas Eve ever!"

"Till the next one," Kazran said, smiling and waving, as the door shut.

|C-S|

"Merry Christmas!"

"Doctor!" Abigail smiled, laughing. "Doctor! Where to this time?" Kazran pulled her from the box and towards the TARDIS.

"Did we mention, at any point, all of space and time?" Adelaide called, darting out of the Doctor's reach as he tried to grab her hands.

|C-S|

"Merry Christmas!" that time they wore fezzes, which the Doctor was extremely pleased about.

"Adelaide! Doctor! Merry Christmas!"

|C-S|

"Merry Christmas!" they all wore long striped scarfs.

"Doctor! Adelaide! Merry Christmas!"

|C-S|

"Merry Christmas!"

That time, instead of looking towards the Time Lords, Adelaide immediately looked towards Kazran, who was now in his late teens and dressed in a suit. "Kazran." The Time Lords exchanged a look before bringing the humans into the TARDIS. "You've grown."

Kazran smiled slightly. "Yes."

"And now you're blushing."

He looked away, the blush deepening. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay."

Kazran coughed, walking over to the Time Lords. "So, Doctor, Adelaide, where this time?"

Adelaide smiled at him. "Any Christmas Eve you'd like. We have them all here."

"Might I make a request?" Abigail called.

"Of course."

Abigail smiled. "This one."

|C-S|

Abigail brought them through the city, remembering where to go despite being frozen for a few years. She finally paused outside of a small house and looked through the window, watching the family inside prepare for Christmas. The other three stood to the side, watching her.

"Who are they?" Kazran asked quietly.

"Her family," Adelaide explained. "The woman is her sister. We met her, once, when she was older."

Kazran frowned, watching Abigail. "Abigail's crying."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes."

"When girls are crying, are you supposed to talk to them?"

The Doctor just looked towards Adelaide. "Be there for her and she will talk if she wants to." Kazran nodded and walked off, leaving the Doctor to pull on Adelaide's arm. She looked at him with raised eyebrows, but he quietly and quickly explained his plan, which made her laugh.

They rushed around to the front of the home without either of the pair noticing they'd gone.

"My sister's family," Abigail told Kazran, still watching the family. "They're so happy."

"They look very poor."

Abigail nodded. "They are very poor. Doesn't mean you can't be happy."

The curtains were shut in their face. "And then why aren't you?" Kazran asked her.

"Because this is the life I can never have."

"Why not?"

Abigail took his hand, squeezing it tightly. "I think you're blushing again."

Then the curtains were thrown open again, but this time it was the Time Lords grinning at them, gesturing for the pair to come join them. "Come in!"

|C-S|

In an attempt to impress both Adelaide and the young boy, the Doctor attempted to do a magic trick. He fanned the cards out for the boy to see. "Pick a card, any card at all." Adelaide was sitting next to him, having been convinced by the Doctor that she didn't need to help Kazran and the boy's father put up the Christmas decorations. The boy drew a card. "You memorize the card, you put it back in the deck. Don't let me see it."

"Is this what it looked like last year?" the boy's father called to Abigail's sister, who was sitting and talking with Abigail.

The woman shook her head. "It doesn't have to be exactly the same."

The man studied the decorations before shaking his head. "I'm starting again. Come on, Kazran, we're starting again."

After a few moments of messing with the cards, the Doctor pulled out a card. "The three of clubs!"

"No."

The Doctor frowned. "You sure? Because I'm very good at card tricks."

"It wasn't the three of clubs."

"Well, of course it wasn't," he threw the card to the side, "because it was the…seven of diamonds!"

"No."

He pouted. "Oi, stop it, you're doing it wrong." He looked to Adelaide. "Tell him he's doing it wrong."

"I'm fairly certain it's not his fault that you can't actually do a magic trick."

The Doctor stuck his tongue out at her.

"Tomorrow's Christmas dinner is canceled," the woman said, making all of them turn to look at her, "as my sister refuses to attend."

"Isabella."

Isabella just smiled. "Instead, we'll have it tonight."

Soon, they were all sitting around the table, crackers in hand. "Three, two, one, pull!" the Doctor cheered, and they all pulled.

"How'd you do that?" the boy asked, holding up the card that had come from his cracker.

The Doctor grinned, elbowing Adelaide's arm. "Your card, I believe."

He unfolded it. "No."

The Doctor sighed. "Oh, shut up." Adelaide laughed at him, which just made the Doctor pout.

Kazran, still laughing, held up his mug. "Um…Merry Christmas."

Everyone else held up their glasses as well, cheering. "Merry Christmas!" they toasted, and the Doctor managed to find a bit of mistletoe to hold over her and Adelaide's heads to force her to kiss him.

|C-S|

Once they'd returned to the ice-box room, Abigail gave both of the Time Lords a hug. "Best Christmas Eve ever."

The Doctor grinned. "Till the next one."

Abigail nodded. "I look forward to it." She glanced at Kazran. "Now I'd like to say good night to Kazran."

"Of course, yes." Adelaide began to pull the Doctor backward as he spoke, the man babbling slightly. "Well, on you go." It took him a second before he realized what Adelaide was attempting to do. "Oh, yes, right. Sorry. We'll…er…we'll go, then."

"Good night," Adelaide said with a laugh, finally able to make the Doctor stumble backward.

"Good luck…night," the Doctor said. "Good night." She continued pulling him. "Sorry."

However, they didn't get far before Kazran jogged after them. "Doctor!" the pair stopped. "I, er…I think she's going to kiss me."

The Doctor gently nudged him back towards Abigail. "Yeah, I think you're right."

"I've never kissed anyone before. What do I do?"

The Time Lord looked towards Adelaide so that he didn't have to answer, but she just gave him an expectant look. "Well, try and be all nervous and rubbish and a bit shaky."

Kazran frowned. "Why?"

"Because you're going to be like that anyway. Might as well make it part of the plan, then it'll feel on purpose." He pushed Kazran again. "Off you go, then."

His eyes widened. "What, now? I kiss her now?"

"Kazran, trust me. It's this or go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver." He glanced at Adelaide. "Don't make my mistakes." He looked back at Kazran. "Now, go."

Kazran hurried off, leaving the Doctor to turn to Adelaide. "Did you go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver?" she asked him.

"Maybe." He glared at her amused expression. "Don't laugh at me."

Adelaide just kissed him, quite soundly, by grabbing his jacket and pulling him down to her height.

|C-S|

The next Christmas Eve, Adelaide and the Doctor brought Abigail and Kazran to a party in 20th century Hollywood. The two Time Lords left the humans to do as they wanted as they mingled, with Adelaide keeping the Doctor out of trouble.

However, despite her best efforts, Frank Sinatra dragged the Doctor off to sing a duet with him. Adelaide just shook her head and went to find someone she could chat with, almost certain the Doctor couldn't get into that much trouble with Frank Sinatra.

It appeared she was wrong, as a few minutes later the Doctor ran over to her and pulled her away by her hand. She managed to get him to explain himself, after which she honestly had no problem just leaving the party right there; apparently, he'd somehow managed to get himself engaged to Marilyn Monroe.

They managed to find Kazran and Abigail standing beside a pool. "Guys, we've really got to go quite quickly. I just accidentally got engaged to Marilyn Monroe." He turned and paused, seeing the humans kissing. Normally, Adelaide would have tried to pull the Doctor away, but she really didn't want him to marry Marilyn Monroe. "How do you keep going like that?" the Doctor asked them, walking up to stand beside them. "Do you breathe out your ears? Hello? Sorry…" he hit Kazran's head lightly, which did make Adelaide pull him backward. "Guys, she's phoned a chapel! There's a car outside. This happening now!"

"Yoo-hoo!" Marilyn called from the distance.

"Yoo-hoo!" the Doctor called back, before wincing as he realized he just helped Marilyn know where to find them. "Right…fine…meet back at the TARDIS!" The Time Lords turned and ran off back towards where they'd left the TARDIS, thankfully getting there before Marilyn found them again.

|C-S|

Once they'd returned to the ice-box room, Kazran and Abigail said goodbye to each other while the Time Lords stood a bit to the side. He'd been able to explain exactly what had happened, but all that had served to do was have Adelaide force him to agree to return to the party after this in order to explain himself.

When they heard the ice-box door close, they looked back over at Kazran. "There we go," the Doctor said with a smile. "Another day, another Christmas Eve. We'll see you in a minute, eh? I mean, a year." They stepped back towards the TARDIS, but then Kazran called after them.

"Doctor? Adelaide?" the pair turned back to him. "Listen, why don't we leave it?"

"Sorry, leave what?"

"Oh, you know, this. Every Christmas Eve. It's getting a bit old."

Adelaide frowned. "Old?"

Kazran shrugged. "Well, Christmas is for kids, isn't it? I've got some work with my dad now. I'm going to focus on that. Get that cloud belt under control."

"Sorry, we didn't realize we were boring you."

Kazran just stepped back. "Not your fault. Times change."

The Time Lords sighed. "Not as much as we'd hoped. Kazran!" the Doctor called after him, making Kazran stop. "I'll be needing a new one, anyway. What the hell." He tossed Kazran his half of the broken screwdriver. "Merry Christmas. And if you ever need us, just activate it. We'll hear you."

"I won't need you."

They frowned. "What's happened? What are you not telling us? What about Abigail?"

Kazran just gestured at the room around them. "I know where to find her." He walked off.

"Yeah…" after a moment, the Time Lords turned and walked back to the TARDIS.

They didn't speak as they set the TARDIS to appear the next year anyway, putting it down outside Kazran's bedroom. They watched from the window as Kazran entered the room and opened his desk drawer, pulling out his half of the screwdriver.

Almost as though he sensed them, Kazran turned to look at them. The Doctor smiled, hopeful, but Kazran just walked over and closed the curtains on them.

|C-S|

To follow the theme of the story they were replicating, the Time Lords managed to get the humans to direct the ship's hologram projection towards Kazran's home in order to have Amy appeal to him as the Ghost of Christmas Present.

The Time Lords stayed in their TARDIS and watched as Amy spoke to Kazran, telling him about the plight of the people in the ship, projecting the sound of the people singing, which is something the Time Lords had suggested as a small way to try and do something to resonate the ice crystals to stabilize the ship.

It wasn't working, but no one had told the people on the ship yet, wanting to keep them hopeful.

But what Amy was saying didn't seem to be working either. Everything the Time Lords had done to Kazran had had no effect; if anything, it had made him worse. It had just taught him that nothing was fair, that everyone had to die.

Abigail had been put into the ice-box knowing she had a certain number of days left to live. She'd been ill, badly, and every time they'd taken her out for a Christmas Eve adventure that number had gone down.

Now she only had one day left to live.

"Doctor?" Amy called, speaking directly to them through Adelaide's phone. "Adelaide?"

"Yes?" Adelaide called back.

"Are you hearing this?"

"We can hear."

Kazran, a hologram in the ship falling through his cloud belt, turned around where he stood in the ice-box room. "They're here? Where are they? Doctor? Adelaide?" he saw them where they stood, the TARDIS behind them. "Doctor! Adelaide!"

"We're sorry," the Doctor said quietly, looking towards Abigail's ice-box. "We didn't realize."

"All my life I've been called heartless. My other life, my real life, the one you rewrote. Now look at me." Kazran looked towards Abigail as well.

"Better a broken heart than no heart at all," Adelaide said, regretting what she and the Doctor had done. Wishing her statement was entirely true.

"Oh, try it," Kazran snapped. "You try it."

"We did."

Kazran was quiet for a moment, but he didn't give himself long enough to think. "Why are you here?"

"Because we're not finished with you yet." The Time Lords walked forwards to face Kazran fully. "You've seen the past, the present, and now you need to see the future."

"Fine, do it. Show me. I'll die cold, alone, and afraid. Of course I will. We all do. What difference does showing me make? Do you know why I'm going to let those people die? It's not a plan. I don't get anything from it." He walked up closer to the Time Lords. "It's just that I don't care. I'm not like you. I don't even want to be like you. I don't and never, ever will care!"

His shout echoed for a moment before Adelaide shook her head. "We don't believe that."

"Then show me the future. Prove me wrong."

"We are showing it to you. We're showing it to you right now."

Adelaide looked at something behind Kazran. "What do you think? Is this who you'd like to become, Kazran?"

Kazran turned to see his younger self, the boy the Time Lords had first meet, staring up at him in horror. Slowly, he stepped closer. "Dad?" the young Kazran asked.

The older Kazran threw down his cane and stalked over, raising his hand to strike the boy, but then he hesitated, watching as his younger self began to cry. He let his hand fall, shaking. "I'm sorry…I'm so, so sorry…" he reached for the young boy but he stepped away. Kazran just moved a bit nearer as the boy began to cry harder. "It's okay, don't be frightened." Kazran hugged him tightly. "I'm…I'm so, so, so…"

The Time Lords walked up as the older Kazran began to cry. "Kazran," the Doctor said quietly, making him look up. "We don't have much time."

|C-S|

As Kazran worked, Adelaide and his younger self stood to the side. The Doctor had run off to send a message to Amy, but as he returned it was very quickly evident that something wasn't working.

"We good to go?" he asked Adelaide, hoping he was just misinterpreting what was happening.

"The controls aren't responding," Adelaide told them.

He frowned. "Of course they will. They're isomorphic. They're tuned to his brainwaves. They'll only respond to him."

Kazran shook his head. "They won't respond."

"That doesn't make sense. That's ridiculous. Why wouldn't…" the Doctor turned to Adelaide, and in about the same moment the Time Lords realized what had happened. "Oh…oh, of course…"

"What's wrong?" Kazran asked them, looking back. "Tell me, what is it?"

"It's you," Adelaide nodded to him. "We changed you too much, and the machine doesn't recognize you."

He frowned. "But my father programmed it."

"Your father would never have programmed it for the man you have become."

"Then what do we do?"

The Doctor rubbed his head. "Er…er…I don't know. I don't know."

"There must be something," the young Kazran said, hopeful.

"This," Kazran held out the broken sonic. "You can use this. I kept it, see?"

"What, half a screwdriver?" the Doctor scoffed, turning away, only for the idea to strike him before, for one of the first times, Adelaide thought of it. "With the other half up in the sky in a big old shark, right in the heart of the cloud layer. If we use your aerial to boost the signal, set up a resonation pattern between the two halves…" Adelaide nodded, realizing what he was planning. "That could work…my screwdriver, coolest bit of kit on this planet, coolest two bits. It could do it!"

"Do what?"

"The screwdriver is still trying to repair," Adelaide said. "It's signaling itself. We'll be able to use that signal to transmit something else."

"Send what?" the young Kazran asked, but the Time Lords hesitated.

"Well, what? What?"

"We're sorry, Kazran. We truly are."

Kazran shook his head. "I don't understand."

"We need to transmit something into the cloud belt," the Doctor said carefully. "Something we know works. We need her to sing."

|C-S|

The group stood in front of Abigail's ice box, though the young Kazran stood to the side. "Her voice resonates perfectly with the ice crystals," the Doctor explained as Abigail heat up. "It calmed the shark. It will calm the sky, too."

"Could you do it?" Kazran asked, watching Abigail slowly wake. "Could you do this? Think about it. One last day with your beloved. Which day would you choose?"

The Doctor reached for Adelaide's hand and gripped it tightly, both of them taking a step back as Abigail finally stepped out of her box. "Christmas," Abigail said. "Christmas Day." She smiled at Kazran, gently touching the side of his face. "Look at you. You're so old now. I think you waited a bit too long, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry…" he whispered.

"Hoarding my days, like an old miser."

Kazran laughed, but there were still tears in his eyes. "But if you leave the ice now…"

"We've had so many Christmas Eves, Kazran. I think it's time for Christmas Day."

Kazran nodded. "Yes."

|C-S|

Using the broken half of a sonic they had, Abigail used it like a microphone to transmit her voice through the clouds. The Time Lords were working on ensuring the wires were connected properly while the young Kazran watched, the older Kazran beside Abigail.

"Well?" the older Kazran asked them, glancing over. "Well?"

"The singing is resonating in the crystals," Adelaide explained. "Feeding back and forth between the two halves of the screwdriver. And now the crystals will align and we'll be able to feed in a controlled phase loop, which will unlock the clouds."

Kazran frowned. "What does that mean, unlock? What happens when a cloud unlocks?"

The Doctor grinned. "Something that hasn't happened in this town for a very long time now."

And as Abigail sang, it started to snow. After a few moments, letting the young Kazran enjoy the snow for a little, they brought him back to the TARDIS before looking back at Kazran and Abigail.

There was the beeping sound again and, when they looked up, they saw the shark flying through the clouds. "Hello, my old friend," Kazran shouted up at him, waving.

The Time Lords smiled and stepped into the TARDIS, returning the young Kazran to his original timeline.

|C-S|

A bit later, the Doctor didn't have to try that hard to convince Adelaide to help him build a snowman. That quickly turned into them competing over who could make the most snowmen until they ran out of carrots, which then had them fighting over who would get the last one.

The Doctor ended up winning and now he studied the final snowman, which had tied him and Adelaide in the number of snowmen department.

"You know," Amy called as she and Rory walked up, "that could almost be mistaken for a real person. The snowman isn't bad, either."

The Time Lords turned to look at them. "Ah, yes, you two. About time." The Doctor frowned at their outfits. "Why are you dressed like that?" Adelaide had noticed, of course, but she, for the record, had decided not to mention it.

"Er, kind of lost our luggage. Kind of crash landed…"

"Yeah, but why are you dressed like that at all?"

Amy coughed, changing the topic. "Yeah, they really love their snowmen around here, don't they? I've counted about twenty."

"Yeah, we've been busy," the Doctor grinned, wrapping his arm around Adelaide's shoulders. "We're tied."

Amy laughed. "Yeah, yeah you have." She stepped forward and hugged them both at once. "Thank you."

"Pleasure." He bounded backward, switching to holding Adelaide's hand. "Right, come on then, let's go."

"Got any more honeymoon ideas?" Rory asked as they walked back off towards where they'd left the TARDIS.

"Well, there's a moon that's made of actual honey…" Adelaide offered, before shrugging. "Well, not actual honey, not actually a moon, and it is technically alive…and a bit carnivorous…"

The Doctor nodded, guessing what she was describing. "There are some lovely views."

"Yeah, great," Rory replied, obviously sarcastic. "Thanks." He entered the TARDIS, leaving the three of them to stand in the snow.

"Are you…are you okay?" Amy asked them.

The Doctor smiled. "Of course we're okay. You?"

"Of course." Amy looked back out into the streets. "It'll be their last day together, won't it?"

The Time Lords gripped their hands tighter. "Everything has got to end sometime, otherwise nothing would ever get started."

Rory popped his head back outside. "Your phone was ringing. Someone called Marilyn. Actually sounds like the Marilyn."

Amy raised her eyebrows at the Doctor, guessing it was the man's fault without Adelaide needing to say something. "Doctor?"

"Tell her he'll phone her back," Adelaide told Rory.

Amy looked up into the sky. "Where are they? Kazran and Abigail."

The Doctor smiled. "Off on a little trip, I should think."

"Where?"

"Christmas."

"Christmas?"

"Yeah, Christmas."

Amy gave the Doctor an odd look, but with a small nod from Adelaide she stepped back inside the TARDIS.

"Thank you," Adelaide said to him, turning to face the Doctor completely. "You've made my first real Christmas quite wonderful."

He frowned. "You've never celebrated Christmas?"

"I've studied it. But not as a Time Lady." She smiled. "It is quite a lovely holiday."

The Doctor grinned. "I'm glad you enjoyed it." He stepped closer, but Adelaide guided him so that they were holding hands instead.

"Come on, we have to get you a new screwdriver." She kissed his hands to keep him following. "Your last one was eaten by a shark, after all."

The Doctor laughed. "I have something for you, first." He pulled something from his pocket. "A Christmas gift." Using the hand he still held, he slid a bracelet onto her wrist before Adelaide could see what it was.

It was quite a simple bracelet, just a dark green ribbon with a charm on it. The charm was a small bit of Gallifreyan writing - her name, Adelaide. She looked back at him with a large smile. "Thank you, Doctor. It's wonderful." She gave him a quick kiss, but the Doctor leapt at the chance to deepen it.

And as they stood among the snow, real snow for once, and kissed, all the stars in the universe burned just a bit brighter.

 **A/N: Aw, she got a lovely Christmas present :) That bracelet will be very important as the story goes on, so don't forget about it ;)**

 **Thank you everyone who's read this story so far. It means so much to me that anyone wants to continue Adelaide's journey with me.**

 **The next story should be posted right after this chapter, so head on over to my profile to take a look. It's called 'the Right Way'. Enjoy!**


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